Two Trips Down A Dark Lane
by Resacon1990
Summary: The typical park meeting, lots of angst, drama and Puppyshipping love! Rated for a reason, warnings inside, no lemon. Cliche with a twist!


**My very first Puppyshipping fic! I have never written one before, only read fifty million so I thought I'd give it a go!**

**WARNING! CONTAINS DISTURBING SCENES, ALL FORMS OF CHILD ABUSE, LOTS OF ANGST, EXTREME OOCs AND IS RATED M FOR A GOOD REASON!**

* * *

><p>Joey Wheelers eyes were darting everywhere as he sat on the fence. His legs were swinging backwards and forwards with rhythm as he hummed a tune, one hand clenching the fence to keep balance while the other was holding the end of a lollipop he was swirling around.<p>

The park was surprisingly quiet… then again it was about five in the afternoon and all the children had probably gone home for their dinner or whatever before their parents got worried. The only real sound that he could hear was the gentle creak of the wire as his shoes bounced off it.

Sighing, he popped the lollipop back in his mouth and stared up at the sky. He wished he could go home and have a nice, cooked meal. To bad all that really awaited him was a drunk father who'd beat the living daylights out of him and still expect him to do what ever he wished.

"Like a dog and its master." Joey muttered under his breath. That was exactly how he viewed that relationship. The dog could be as loyal and loving as it wants but no matter what, the master is just still going to keep rejecting him.

Joey rolled his eyes at the thought and pulled the lollipop back out of his mouth, choosing instead to just lick it. He truly believed that life was out to get him.

Thinking about his father made him shudder. He hated that his mother had taken Serenity and not him… but then again Serenity might not have survived with the punishment Joey had been put through his whole life.

A sudden itch began all over his body as his scars almost burned and his legs instinctively crossed. His father had practically mutilated his body and destroyed all innocence he'd had. Joeys bottom lip wobbled before he yanked the lollipop out of his mouth and threw it away from himself, staring at it in disgust.

It had been bought with the dirty money from the dirty job his father had forced him into so as to pay the bills. Joey had known his life would be hard but he didn't think it'd get up to the stage where he'd be forced to sell his body for money. Slowly, his legs came undone and just dangled there while his arm that wasn't holding him steady, wrapped tightly around himself.

He honestly wished that one day someone would take him away. Get him away from the cruel hands of his father who hit him with anything and everything, the claws of desperate woman who teared at his skin for a moment of pleasure, the worried gazes of his friends as he began to get quieter and quieter everyday, the judging glares of people who found out he lived in the shady part of town, the harsh remarks that fell from his old gangs lips as they beat him within an inch of his life for leaving them, the fretting words that Serenity would cry when Joey didn't have the strength to pick up the phone and answer her call, the disastrous spats he'd get into with his mother after his school work would drop a grade, the screaming matches he'd get into with Tea when she demanded to know details, the dreaded nightmares that plagued his sleep and the horrible reality that reached him when he woke, the tears that met his eyes when he was alone at night, the insults that dripped from sneering tormentors, the unforgiving looks he received from the rest of his family when they found out he was the one who 'ruined' his fathers life, the scared looks children gave him in the park as he limp through bloodied and bruised.

The horror he felt as he looked in the mirror to see the broken man staring back.

Loud laughter broke Joey out of his dark thoughts and his head snapped up to see a young child around the age of eleven sprinting down a path a little way away from him, his long black hair streaming out behind him and his striped clothes a colorful blob. Behind him, a tall brown haired man was chasing after him, the laughter coming from him.

"Mokie! Slow down!" he yelled, his eyes dancing with joy as the boy turned around and poked his tongue out before scaling up the nearest climbing apparatus.

"You'll never catch me Seto!"

Joeys mouth dropped open as he watched the two, shocked when he realised it was the Kaiba brothers. Mokuba giggled as his brother clumsily climbed up after him and attempted to tackle him, narrowly dodging Seto's lunge. Quickly, he jumped on the fireman's pole and slid down, darting towards the fence that Joey just so happened to be sitting on.

"J-Joey?" he stuttered as soon as his eyes landed on the blonde.

"Mokuba?" he replied, his eyes wide. Mokuba cocked his head to the side before a loud cry flew out of his mouth as Seto's arms flew around his waist and threw him up in the air.

"Got you Mokie!" he laughed, twirling his giggling brother around before his eyes suddenly fell on Joey.

"Mutt?" he almost seemed to ask, allowing Mokuba to slip through his arms and bounce on the ground. Joey cocked his head to the side as he made eye contact with the brunette.

"Kaiba?"

There was silence between the trio before finally Mokuba ran forward and hugged Joeys knees.

"Joey! What are you doing here?" he chirped, grinning up at him. The blonde slipped off the fence and gave Mokuba an actually hug before shrugging.

"I'm just… here." was all he said before flicking a wave at them. "I gotta run."

"Wait! You don't have to go just because we're here!" Mokuba cried, his eyes wide with worry as he tugged on Joeys hand. The smaller boy turned to look up at his brother who also shrugged. Mokuba sighed and turned back to the other teen.

"Come on Joey!"

Joey sighed as he looked at the desperate boy before nodding his head and smiling. "Fine then."

Mokuba let out a loud cry of success before whirling around and sprinting towards the swings, roughly grabbing both Seto's and Joeys hands and taking them with him.

"Seto! Push me!" he twittered, throwing himself on a swing on his stomach and flying up before crashing back down, dragging his feet along the ground. He quickly wiggled around until he was sitting and grinned up at his brother. Seto sighed and moved behind him, slowly pushing his brother. Joey felt a little awkward standing there until Mokuba gestured at the other swing.

"Sit down Joey. Stop being such a stiff!" the younger boy cackled, causing Joey to laugh and plop down beside them.

It was at least an hour later that both Seto and Joey collapsed on the grass as Mokuba continued to sprint around the park, his eyes bright with wonder as he climbed, swung and played with everything. With an exhausted groan, Joey fell on his back and stared up into the sky at the stars that were just starting to appear as the sun finally began to disappear. Seto glanced down at him and smiled softly.

"Tired?" he asked, moving his legs into a comfortable cross legged position. Joey jumped and looked up at the brunette, his eyes wide in shock.

"You're actually talking to me?"

Seto frowned and cocked his head to the side, his icy blue eyes staring into Joeys honey brown ones. "Any reason I shouldn't?"

Joey fell oddly quiet and ran his eyes over Seto, his mind trying to see if there was any physical damage that had happened to him while they'd been playing. He was shocked to realize that it was the first time he'd actually looked at Seto and even more stunned at the way Seto was dressed.

He had a simple white dress shirt that was covered in multiple grass stains on, the top button undone. Around his neck hung a forest green tie that was loose, almost as if he'd tried taking it off before giving up and just letting it flop. It was the pants though that put Joey out of sorts, simple black jeans covered his legs, also covered in grass stains, while simple black shoes where on his feet.

"Are you… suddenly poor?" Joey asked, his eyes wide as he evaluated the other boy. Seto frowned before looking down at himself.

"I'm assuming you mean the grass stains." he sighed, trying in vain to brush them off. "Mokuba's a bit rough when play wrestling." he chuckled.

Joey just about fainted. Seto was laughing? Just as he'd managed to compose himself, a flash of colour came out of nowhere and smashed into Seto, sending him to the ground.

"SETOOOOO!" Mokuba screamed, laughing maniacally as he rubbed his face into his brothers chest. Seto groaned from where he was lying, attempting to give Joey a glare as the blonde laughed.

"I think Mokuba wants some attention." he sniggered, flinching slightly when Seto smacked his knee.

"Shut up Mutt." he snapped before ruffling Mokuba's hair. "What do you want kiddo?"

Mokuba lifted up his head and grinned happily. "Can I get ice cream?"

"Where are you going to get ice cream at this time of the evening?" Seto sighed, pushing his brother off and sitting back up, shaking his head to get the grass blades out. Mokuba grinned and bounced to his feet, pointing off down the way a little where a small ice cream shop stood.

"It closes in twenty minutes! Come on big brother! I'll be quick!" Mokuba begged, pulling the puppy dog eyes. Seto was silent for a moment before nodding his head.

"Fine. Don't go anywhere else though." he muttered, reaching into his pocket and dragging out some money, handing it to his ecstatic brother.

"Thank you Seto!" he cried before sprinting off, leaving the two teens to just watch him.

Silence rang between the two before Joey climbed to his feet.

"I should go." he muttered, sucking on the inside of his mouth. Seto looked up at him, his eyes curious and his head cocked to the side.

"Why?"

Joey frowned and looked down at Seto. "Why?"

"Yes. Why should you go? You're having fun and it's obvious you really don't want to go." Seto started, his eyes turning hard and showing no emotion as he looked away. "Let me guess. All that awaits you at home is a drunken father who blames you for all his problems."

Joey was dead quiet as he stared at the ground, the crushing weight of reality hitting him. Slowly, he lowered himself back down and pulled his knees up to his chest.

"Its not my fault you know…" the blonde whispered as his bottom lip wobbled. Surprised, Seto flicked his head back to look at Joey and sighed.

"I kn-"

"No! You don't understand!" Joey cried, staring at Seto with desperate eyes. "Its not my fault! None of it!"

"Mutt, calm down." Seto deadpanned, slipping a hand over Joey mouth only to watch in shock as Joey screeched and ripped it away.

"Don't touch me." he begged, his eyes wide. "Please don't touch me."

Seto was quiet as he analyzed the teen. It seemed he was more emotionally unstable than he'd originally thought. Quietly, he nodded his head and laid down on the grass, turning his eyes to the sky.

It was Joeys turn to watch the brunette. He was quite surprised at his reaction. Most of the others would demand to know more and pressure him into telling them but Seto… he just accepted it and moved on. The blonde didn't know why but he was actually feeling slightly happy for once.

Joey felt comfortable around him.

Somewhat unsure, Joey scooted closer and laid down beside Seto, content to just stay in a companionable silence. He liked this side of Seto, the non-asshole side.

"Gozaburo used to do the same."

Joey jumped when Seto suddenly spoke, causing him to stare at the brunette beside him. He was still staring up at the sky, his lips in a hard line.

"But.. but he chose you. Didn't he?" Joey asked, his brow furrowed. Why would a man pick a child from a bunch of orphans that he didn't want. Beside him, Seto chuckled darkly.

"The only reason he took us in was because I beat him in a chess game." Seto spat bitterly. "He never truly wanted us."

"But couldn't he have just gone back on his deal?"

"He never went back on a promise." he scoffed. "He was many things, and honest was one of them."

More silence engulfed the two but it didn't seem to matter to either of them, both content with just staring at the sky. It was only when Seto shifted slightly that Joey looked at him, surprised to see him looking back.

That's when it hit him.

Seto wasn't just telling him for fun. It was his way of saying that he was there to listen if need be. If he needed someone to relate too. Joey felt an overwhelming feeling of shock fill him and he gave a small smile.

"I should go..." he whispered, his eyes downcast. Seto sighed and pulled them both to their feet.

"And I should find my brother."

No other words were spoken between the two as they gave swift nods of their heads before going their separate ways.

XxXxXxXxX

Joey was aware of the dead silence his friends sat in as they stared at the tray of food sitting in front of him.

Sure it was just a tray of food, laden with so much on it that Joey's stomach could almost burst after eating it all but that wasn't the reason they were staring at it.

It was because the lunch lady had actually walked over and given it to him, for free.

"This must be a prank or something." Tristan muttered, surprising everyone at his skeptical look. When it came down to food Tristan would take anything and everything he could get his hands on. It wasn't like him to be cautious. Joey pursed his lips together before reaching out slowly and plucking a chip from the carton it was sitting in. He stared at it for a long moment before taking a small bite out of it, chewing carefully.

"Just eat the bloody food Mutt." a voice suddenly snapped and Joey almost choked on the small bit of food in his mouth as he whirled around to see Seto standing there, his hands buried in the pockets of his school pants and an unimpressed look on his face.

"Kaiba..?" he coughed, smacking his chest as he breathed in huge gulps of air. Seto just rolled his eyes in response.

"No. Its me Yugi." he snapped sarcastically before gesturing at the food. "Just eat it." he finished before turning around and walking out of the cafeteria. Joey took a moment to look at the food before pushing the tray at Tristan and Duke who were practically drooling over it.

"You guys eat it. I'll be right back." he said as he pushed the chair he was sitting on back and jumped out, almost tripping over the leg as he sprinted out of the cafeteria after Seto. As soon as he was out in the hall though, he froze, trying to see where Seto had disappeared too. He decided quickly on the right corridor and started following that, climbing up the stairs to the roof of the school when he hit them.

Joey was happy to see Seto's familiar back as the brunette leaned against the rail, looking out over the landscape that surrounded the school. Quietly, the blonde walked up behind Seto and stood next to him, slightly amused when Seto seemed to readjust himself so they could stand close to each other comfortably. Nothing was said between the two for a long moment before Joey sighed.

"Why did you get me all that food?"

"Why aren't you eating it?" Seto countered, still not looking at Joey.

"I asked first."

With a sigh, Seto pushed away from the rail and walked towards the stairs, taking a seat on them. Within seconds Joey had joined him.

"You look starved Mutt. Malnourished." the brunette's ice blue eyes focused on Joey. The blonde shuffled uncomfortably under his gaze before looking at the ground, knotting his hands together.

"I… its not that I don't want to eat it." he whispered. "Its just… I haven't eaten properly in months. I don't think… I don't think I can eat it."

Joey was surprised to see Seto just nod his head slowly, accepting what he said as fact. They stayed in a comfortable silence, enjoying each others company once again as they just seemed to sit and think. Joeys eyes occasionally glanced to Seto though as the brunette stared at his hands, wringing them together.

He didn't know really what was going on between them. They were enemies weren't they? They hated each other, took every second they could to insult each other. And now they were sitting not only together but comfortably? Joey was so confused. Ever since they'd met in the park a week ago, Seto had almost stopped insulting him. Sure there was the odd barb but apart from that he'd basically just stopped being an asshole. It was almost as if he was a whole different person. The others had picked up on it and decided to ask Joey about it all but the truth was, Joey had no answers. Why would he know why Seto was suddenly being nice?

"Kaiba… where do we stand?"

The brunette jumped in surprise as Joey asked a question, curiosity burning in honey brown eyes. Seto was quiet for a long moment as well, thinking over the question.

He also didn't really know what was going on. After finding out about mentally unstable Joey really was, compassion for the boy was all that Seto felt. He didn't want to insult him, he didn't want to destroy his self esteem. In truth, all he wanted to do was just help Joey. After all, it wasn't long ago that he himself had gone through it all.

"I don't know." he replied, watching as Joey played with a thread sticking out of his sleeve. Quietly, he looked back down, his fingers tightening around each other.

"Do you hate me?"

Seto's head popped up in shock and he stared at Joey. "No." he started, nibbling on his bottom lip. "I honestly don't know Mutt, but I don't hate you."

Joey nodded his head, trying hard to understand. Although the one thing that still bugged him was that Seto hadn't really answered his question. Why did he get him all that food? Wouldn't throwing him an apple suit him? Cheaper and shows how much of a dog he could be. With his brow furrowed, he turned to look at Seto, swiveling his body so he was facing him.

"You didn't fully answer my question."

Seto looked at Joey with tired eyes before sighing.

"Gozaburo." was all he said before he stood up, shoving his hands in his pockets. He began descending the stairs before he glanced back up at the blonde, his face once again emotionless. "After school meet me out front."

Joeys eyes widened and he stood up, staring down at Seto. "What? Why?"

He got no reply as the brunette walked away.

XxXxXxXxX

The kitchen was filled with noise as pots and pans smashed together and Mokuba's ever present chatting all pounded through the room. Joey Wheeler sat beside the talking black-haired kid and watched as his older brother moved around the kitchen effortlessly, cooking up some spectacular dish.

It'd been a week since Joey was forced everyday after school to come to the Kaiba Mansion for dinner and since he'd found out that Seto Kaiba was probably one of the best cooks in the history of cooking. The brunette could make anything and everything.

"Mokie, pass the salt." Seto's clear voice rang out, cutting off Mokuba's sentence about how some kid at school got in trouble for doing something to the teacher. Happily bouncing out of his seat, Mokuba wandered over to the huge pantry and fished out the shaker before tossing it lightly to Seto.

"Here ya go! Now as I was saying…" Plopping back down beside Joey, the kid continued to ribbit on about his school life and Joey couldn't help but smile. Without disrupting Mokuba, Joey climbed out of his seat and wandered over to the cutlery draw, about to set the table. And like always, Seto was there first.

"Go sit back down Mutt." he said, placing a hand on Joeys wrist as the blonde reached for the draw.

"Aw come on Kaiba! Let me do something!" he whined, pouting at the brunette. Seto shook his head and using his hip, bunted Joey away from the draw, scooping out a handful of cutlery. Sighing, Joey stomped back over to the table and sat down, a scowl on his face.

"Its ok Joey! Maybe you can do it tomorrow night!" Mokuba giggled, patting Joey on the arm, missing when Joey winced.

Seto didn't.

"Mutt? Whats up with your arm?" he asked, placing the cutlery and bowls he'd just gotten out down on the bench and walked around the breakfast bar to his side. Joey flinched when Seto reached out to touch his arm and quickly hid it under the bar.

"Its nothing." he mumbled unconvincingly. Seto's eyes narrowed in response.

"Liar. What is it?" he asked again, attempting to grab Joeys arm again.

"Just leave it Kaiba!" he cried, trying to avoid Seto's grabby hands.

"No! Whats wrong with your arm?"

Joey felt tears pricking his eyes and he quietly looked up at Seto, catching his eyes with his. "Please Seto. Just leave it." he practically begged.

Seto instantly fell back. Joey only ever used his name when he was truly sincere, otherwise he just called him Kaiba or on the rare occasion, Moneybags. With a sigh, Seto turned around and walked back to the stove, ready to finish up tea.

Joey on the other hand felt an incredible sense of guilt overwhelm him. He was grateful to Seto but he didn't know if he could trust him that much. And anyway, it wasn't like he was going to run around yanking up his sleeve to flash his bruises he'd gotten from his drunken father to everyone. That was an idiotic thing to do!

Mokuba watched the interaction between the two with quiet, observant eyes. The tension between the them was so obvious that he couldn't help but smile. Poor Joey though was looking a little downcast as he stared at his hands and Seto's back was rigid. Mokuba sighed, he'd have to try loosen them up again.

"Hey Seto!" he called, a huge grin on his face. "What are you cooking?"

His older brother turned around to look at the happy kid and Joey raised his head, curiosity in his eyes.

"Curry and rice."

Mokuba's mouth opened as suddenly Joey was out of his seat and staring into the pot the curry was cooking in, hunger taking over his face as he licked his lips. He was about to grab the nearest utensil when Seto placed his hands on his shoulders and pulled him away.

"Kaibaaa! You know curry and rice is my favourite!" Joey whined as Seto forced him to sit back down.

"First, I didn't know that and second, you have to wait." Seto sighed, letting go and wandering back over to turn off the stove. "Its finished now anyway."

The two other boys sat quietly as they watched Seto expertly dish up the food. Placing the fluffy white rice in the bowls first before topping them off with a delicious looking curry that left both Mokuba and Joey drooling. He placed the leftovers back on top of the stove then placed a fork in each bowl before pushing it across the bench to the other two, watching with a small smile as Mokuba instantly inhaled a mouthful and gave the "its good, I'm going to devour this then eat the rest" sign.

Quietly, he then turned his eyes on to Joey who quickly began scoffing down the rice and curry, his eyes filled with joy. Ever so slowly, Seto himself began to eat, keeping his eyes on the blonde.

First mouthful. Fast chewing.

Second mouthful. Slightly slower.

Third mouthful. Slow chewing.

Fourth mouthful. Hesitant swallowing.

Fifth mouthful. Chewing hardly existent.

Sixth mouthful. Not swallowed.

Joey flew out of his chair and sprinted down the hallway and the sound of retching could be heard. Seto sighed as he placed his fork down.

"My turn tonight?" he asked as Mokuba also put his fork down, giving his brother a small smile.

"I can do it if you want."

Seto shook his head and turned to walk out of the room, making his way down towards the nearest bathroom where the vomiting sounds could be heard from.

For the past week it'd been the same routine every night. Because Joey had only eaten scraps if anything in who knows how long, his stomach couldn't handle the amount it was being fed. Leaving him to barely get past the fourth mouthful food before he'd throw everything up.

Subtly, Seto moved into the bathroom to see Joey kneeling on the ground, dragging in as many breaths he could as he winced in pain, the stomach acid that had joined the food coming out of his mouth burning his throat.

Crouching down beside him, Seto began rubbing his back lightly, screwing his nose up as Joey reached over and unloaded the rest of his stomachs contents into the toilet. The blonde took a few moments to compose himself before he fell back on the ground, his eyes tightly closed and face pale white. Without a word, Seto got up and flushed the toilet, making sure the lid was closed so the putrid smell wouldn't fill the room and walked over to the basin, picking up both the wet and dry cloths Mokuba had prepared earlier.

"Why are you helping me?"

Seto froze. Normally they wouldn't speak until after they were back at the dinner table and Joey would start apologizing profusely. Slowly turning around, Seto stared at the blonde who was looking back with an intense look.

"Kaiba? Why are you helping me?" Joey repeated. He was about to stand up but Seto rested a hand on his shoulder and forced him back down, taking a seat beside him. Luckily he wasn't wearing any of his flamboyant coats so he could easily make himself comfortable in the small space.

"Seto. Answer me."

Taking a deep breath, Seto met Joeys eyes. "I don't know."

"Liar."

Seto was expecting him to continue and when it was clear he wasn't, the brunette reached over and began cleaning Joey up, smacking his hands away when he tried doing it himself.

"I'm not a child!"

"Could have fooled me." Seto snapped back, roughly dragging away Joeys hands before smacking him in the face with the wet cloth. While he sat there in shock, Seto grabbed the dry cloth and wiped the rest of Joeys face before throwing them both into the nearby washing hamper. Silence fell between them again as neither wanted to leave but neither wanted to stay.

"Gozaburo used to starve me."

Joeys eyes raised as he saw Seto staring at his crossed legs, his knuckles white as his hands gripped each other in his lap.

"If I did something wrong and he… he couldn't be bothered with the usual punishment-" Joey didn't miss the slight shiver that ran through Seto's body when he said that. "-he would starve me."

The blonde wanted to say something but seeing that Seto wasn't even looking at him, he stayed silent.

"At first it was only a mealtime or something but it slowly got worse and worse. I used to have to go weeks at a time with only the food that Mokuba could sneak to me." Seto bit his lip before looking at Joey, his icy blue eyes full of pain. "After a while, my stomach just couldn't handle food. I would throw up like you do now all the time.

"Thats why I'm helping you." he muttered, looking away again. "Because I never had anyone to help me. But-" he gave a small forced smile. "-but I can help you."

Joey was dead quiet as the reality of the matter set in. Sympathy was accompanied by curiosity as he looked at the brunette. He wanted to know what the usual punishment was, he genuinely did and was curious to know if it was anything like his was.

"Seto? Can I ask you something?" Joey asked, sighing with relief when Seto nodded his head. Taking a deep breath, Joey reached out and got Seto to look at him.

"What was the usual punishment?"

As was expected, all colour drained from Seto's face and he instantly flinched away from Joeys touch. What wasn't expected though was Seto's almost mad scramble to get away from Joey, his eyes wide with fear. Suddenly though it was replaced by anger and Seto stormed towards the door.

"Theres going to be one rule from now on Mutt." he hissed, his voice like a cold whip that wrapped around Joeys neck. "You don't ever ask that, or anything like that again."

Joey didn't have time to confirm it as Seto had disappeared, leaving him slightly frightened and by himself.

XxXxXxXxX

Rain pounded down on Joey as he stumbled through the night, hot tears coursing down his face and his arms were wrapped protectively around himself. His clothes were in ripped ruins and dried blood was falling off some of his limbs as the cuts seared in pain. He was gasping for breath as he tried to find out where he was heading through the thick haze of tears clouding his eyes until finally he just gave in, moving whichever way felt right as the pounding thought of "I want to go home" continued to crash around in his head.

He was surprised when he suddenly ended up outside the Kaiba Mansion, even more surprised to see the gates were wide open. Without pause, he staggered through the gates, shivering as the cold rain continued to drench his already soaked skin. Quietly, he made his way up the drive towards the front door, hoping that they might be home.

Just before he could reach the covering of the front door, it flew open and revealed a grumpy looking Seto.

"Dammit Mokuba, hurry up or we'll be late." he snapped, readjusting his blue tie that made his eyes pop in the white suit he was wearing. Looking away from in the house, Seto froze when he saw Joey.

"Lets go then!" Mokuba giggled, sprinting out the door in a matching suit, also freezing when he saw the blonde. "J-Joey?" he asked, stepping forward so he was barely under the cover of the porch. Joey's bottom lip wobbled as he stared at the two before suddenly he threw himself at Mokuba, wrapping his arms around the black haired kid as he burst into hysterical sobbing, his throat almost ripping apart with the sounds.

The two brothers were silent for a long moment before Mokuba seemed to almost collapse under the weight of the blonde and Seto jumped forward, wrapping his arms around Joey and supporting him. Wriggling around, Joey secured his arms around Seto and cried on his shoulder, not wanting to let go.

"Mokie, get Roland." Seto grunted as he attempted to readjust Joeys weight to no avail. Mokuba nodded and sprinted inside, screaming for their butler. Within seconds, Roland was dragged out by Mokuba.

"My, what happened to Mr Wheeler, Mr Mokuba?" the man asked, his eyes widening. Mokuba shrugged before Seto fixed his right hand man with a glare.

"Some help would be nice." he hissed through gritted teeth. Quickly, Roland raced forward and took some of Joeys weight before following Seto inside. Quietly the three listened to Joeys strangled sobs as they made their way into the living room. They moved over to the long black leather couch and Roland stepped back to allow Seto to lie Joey down, only for Seto to see no other way than to sit down as well. Slowly, he eased them both onto the couch and the other two grabbed Joeys legs so he was lying down. Just as he was about to untangle himself, Joey let go of Seto's waist and buried his head in the brunettes lap, beginning to soak it with his tears. Not really knowing what to do, Seto began to stroke his hair by instinct before glancing up at Roland.

"Roland, tell them Mokuba and I will not be attending the party." he muttered his voice unemotional as he kept his eyes on the crying blonde on his lap. Both Mokuba's and Roland's head popped up in surprise.

"Mr Kaiba! Are you sure?" Roland cried. "This is your biggest event yet!"

"And there will be another. Do as I say Roland."

Roland seemed to struggle with obeying the order before he silently nodded, his eyes falling on Joey. The poor boy did need some attention obviously.

"Yes sir."

"And could you please try and find some clothes for Wheeler?" Seto asked, gesturing down at the ripped, drenched and ragged clothing that was on the boys body. "He's a bit less broader than me and has bigger hips so none of my clothes will do."

Roland gave another nod. "And some for both you and Mr Mokuba as well?" he asked, pleased when Seto nodded.

"Don't worry about me! I'll sort myself out!" Mokuba cried, shaking his head. "Are the maids all upstairs still Roland?"

"Yes Mr Mokuba. Would you like me to-"

"No no! Its alright!" Mokuba chirped before he walked out the door, dragging a surprised Roland behind him. "You can ask them to make some hot chocolate though!"

Seto watched in slight amusement as Mokuba took the man away before looking down at the boy still in his lap. With a sigh, he continued to stroke his hair and began whispering some calming words in a soothing voice.

"Its ok Joey… ssh its ok." he whispered, his eyes showing how worried he was. "Calm down."

It took a long time for Joey to finally begin to calm down, his loud throat ripping sobs slowing turning into gentle mewing. When he finally did though, he didn't move, choosing instead to just lie on Seto's lap calmly, his fists tightening around the fabric that was Seto's pants before releasing them. Seto didn't seem to mind as he felt the fabric rub against his legs, sighing as Joey whimpered when he tried to rearrange himself.

"Wheeler." he muttered, shaking his shoulder. "Wheeler."

"S-Seto." he heard Joey choke out. Suddenly, Joeys head popped up and he scampered away from Seto pressing himself up against the other side of the couch, fear in his eyes. "I'm sorry! I'm so so so sorry!" he practically screamed, his hands flying everywhere as if to protect himself. "Please.. P-Please don't hurt me Mr Kaiba… I promise I won't do it again!"

It took Seto a moment to realize what the once again hysterical teen was preaching about but when he did, his face paled. Joey thought that he was going to… going to hurt him for practically throwing himself at him in a moment of weakness.

"Joey…"

"P-Please Mr Kaiba! I'll do anything! Just don't hurt me!" Joey sobbed, hiding his face behind his hands. With a sigh, Seto reached out and wrapped a hand around Joeys wrist, wincing as Joey let out a petrified scream and began clawing at Seto's hands.

"LET ME GO!" He shrieked, his eyes wild with untamed panic. "PLEASE!"

With one tug of the wrist, Seto felt Joey slam into his chest and he quickly wrapped his arms around him, securing him so he couldn't move. Joey struggled against him for a moment more, his desperate wailing hardly being muffled until he quietened down and began crying softly into Seto's chest, his hands grabbing handfuls of Seto's shirt and twisting them around.

Suddenly little Mokuba burst into the room, his eyes wide with worry, a bunch of clothes clenched tightly in on hand and an empty mug in the other.

"Seto! Whats going on?" he gasped. Seto raised a hand but was stopped as Joey began whimpering, his body shaking. Dropping his hand so it was back on Joeys back, Seto sighed.

"I don't know. Get Roland to get a doctor."

"N-No!" Joey suddenly cried against Seto's chest. "Please… they hurt me and… and touch me." he sobbed. Seto's face paled considerably and he pulled Joey back by the shoulders.

"Touch you?" he asked, his eyes wide with concern. Joey nodded weakly, tears blurring his vision.

"T-They touch me… they all t-touch me… e-even h-he does. He does Seto! He does!"

"Who's he?"

But Joey didn't speak anymore as he wormed his way back to Seto's chest, causing the brunette to frown. Looking back up at his disturbed brother, he realised that Mokuba was too young to actually be hearing this.

"Mokie-"

"Don't give me any too young crap Seto." Mokuba snapped. "I'll get Roland to get the medics."

Seto watched as Mokuba sprinted out of the room for only a brief second before reappearing, only holding clothes as he placed them on the coffee table before plopping down on the other side of Joey.

"Hey Joey." he almost seemed coo as he touched the blondes back, and Seto saw a flash of hurt fly across Mokuba's face as Joey flinched away from his touch. The trio sat in silence for a long time, Joeys sobs having stopped as he just sat there trembling, Mokuba rubbing his back and Seto watching the two as he kept his arms tightly locked around Joey.

"We should get him changed." Mokuba suddenly spoke up, locking eyes with his brother who nodded, once again pulling Joey back by the shoulders.

"Joey." he started, shaking the boy so he'd look at him. "We need to get you changed."

The honey brown eyed boy nodded his head and reluctantly got up, Seto right behind him. Crossing over to the pile of clothes, Seto grabbed the bundle on top which consisted of a green shirt, jeans, underpants and socks, before facing Joey.

"Will you be okay by yourself?" he asked, his eyes boring into the others. Joey gave a brisk nod before taking the clothes out of Seto's hands and taking off down the hall, heading to his usual bathroom. Seto watched with worry before looking down at himself, surprised to see his once white suit now an odd mixture of browns. With a sigh, he reached out and grabbed the rest of the clothes, ready to put them on.

"Whats wrong with Joey?" he heard Mokuba ask as he stripped out of his shirts and pants, dumping them on the ground then dragging on the pair of jeans he'd picked up.

"I don't know Mokie. Hopefully the medic will tell us."

"Can he stay here tonight?"

Seto's head popped up in surprise and he gawked at his brother, his eyes wide. "What?"

"Joey. You can't expect him to go home Seto!"

"His father-"

"Hates him! I think when he was talking about that 'he' person he was talking about his Dad!"

"And what makes you think that?"

"Because thats what you used to sound like."

Seto froze when Mokuba said that and he couldn't stop the filthy glare that he gave him. "Mokuba, we said we'd-"

"Never talk about it." Mokuba sighed, getting to his feet and walking over to his brother. "But don't you think its time?"

He was about to open his mouth to reply when a the sudden sound of breaking glass and an earth shattering scream echoed through the mansion, reaching Seto and Mokuba in no time. With only a moment to exchange a glance, the two were sprinting down the corridor and heading towards Joeys bathroom. It took Seto less than a second to throw open the door and quickly they raced in, freezing when they saw a newly dressed but once again crying Joey sitting on the ground, his arms wrapped around his knees that were pulled up to his chest. Glass shards lay around him and just above the sink was a smashed mirror.

Seto could put two and two together.

With a shocked Mokuba right behind him, Seto moved forward and managed to kneel down beside Joey, avoiding the shards.

"Joey? Joey whats wrong?"

"He's never going to leave me. He's never going to go is he Seto?" Joey whispered, his eyes wide as he began rocking on the spot. Seto frowned and reached out, pulling Joey onto his lap.

"What are you talking about?" he asked gently, stroking Joeys hair as the boy seemed to curl in on himself.

"Every time I look in the mirror… parts of him will stare back. Every time I move or walk he'll be there in my stride. Every time I talk I can hear him…" the blonde shuddered. "Hear his voice thats like mine."

Mokuba watched the two in shock before suddenly Joey stopped. He stopped crying, moving, talking. Everything. It took a moment but he suddenly pried himself out of Seto's embrace and got up, his eyes hard.

"I'm not worth this." he suddenly spat, staring at the ground and not responding as Seto got to his feet as well. "I'm not worth your attention. I'm just destroying you."

Seto's eyes were harsh and cold as his hand latched onto Joeys wrist, ripping him around to face him.

"You're worth everything." He snarled, his eyes glinting with anger. "Don't you dare ever think otherwise. You're worth anything and everything, you don't deserve the treatment you get from who ever it is that does this to you. You do deserve friends, family, love. You deserve everything good in this world." Joey gasped as Seto grabbed the front of his shirt and dragging him so close that when Seto spoke his breath pounded against his face. "And don't you forget it."

Roughly, he practically threw Joey away from him before storming out, refusing to even look at the shocked two.

"M-Mokuba… whats wrong with Seto?"

Quietly the boy placed a hand on Joeys elbow, staring him out to the lounge to await the arrival of the medic.

"So much Joey, you'd be scarred for life."

XxXxXxXxX

"Mr Evans! Please!"

"I'm sorry Joseph, but there are just no more funds coming through for you."

Joey groaned as he dropped his head in his hands, fighting back tears to try hiding his weakness in front of the principal. This was it, he was eternally screwed. His mother had been barely supporting him through high school, what with his Dad being an ungrateful prick and not helping out in supplying the money but now that Serenity was starting high school it was near impossible. And it'd finally run out. She'd had to choose between either Joey or Serenity and she'd picked the latter.

"Come on! Theres only two months left of school! Can't I just stay?"

"I'm sorry Joseph." the man sighed. "This school needs funds and you have no idea how much people will pay just to send their child here. Even if it is for two months."

"Can't I get a job-"

"The amount that you'd need would be at least two weeks worth from a normal paying job."

"Please Mr Evans! I'll do anything!"

Once again the man just shook his head. "Theres nothing we can do unless you can somehow come up with the money to pay for the next two months of school. Now if you don't mind Mr Wheeler, as you are now no longer a student, could you please escort yourself off the school premises."

"Mr Evans-"

"Now."

With a disgruntled sigh, Joey pushed out of his chair and got out, tempted to flip off Mr Evans before just walking out, his head down. Quietly he walked the halls, past the gym, past the cafeteria, past the classroom that he'd been mucking around in with Tristan, Duke, Yugi and everyone else just moments before. He passed the stairs that had in reality started his something-ship with Seto.

Seto.

Oh god what was he going to say?

He hadn't seen Seto for about two weeks. Since the… well accident he could call it… he'd had been away for a conference, back at home for less than a day before being called away for another one that lasted over the weekend. He'd gotten home and fell sick for over three days where he was confined to his room and was allowed no visitors right up until yesterday when he'd appeared at school and was working so hard to catch up on work that Joey couldn't even make eye contact in any of their classes. Not that Seto would really want to, Mokuba had told him that'd he'd being fuming for days.

A frustrated sigh escaped his lips as he threw open the door that lead to the lockers and walked over to his own, grabbing out some of the stuff that actually belonged to him. A photo album, some pens, his art book, two textbooks and a small plush toy that Tea had bought him. Closing it again, he stuffed the pens in his pocket before slipping the books under one arm and gripping the plush in the other.

It'd felt weird going to the Kaiba Mansion and not seeing Seto anywhere. He'd felt slightly uncomfortable, especially when Seto had been upstairs locked away in his bedroom and Joey hadn't been allowed to see him. He'd craved Seto's attention and it'd shocked him to no end. In fact that was why Tea had given him the stupid toy in the first place. Looking down at the toy in his hand, he couldn't resist the smile. It was just two dragons, a Blue eyes and Red eyes looking at each other while their tails were joined in the shape of a heart. Rather corny but sweet at the same time.

Luckily it was no bigger than his hand so he was able to place it gently in his pocket. He secretly loved the toy but honestly didn't want to be seen with it.

Making his way down the last corridor, he pulled his books up to his chest and hugged them tightly. Using his hip, he pushed open the front door and dragged himself down the steps, his eyes darting around. It wasn't until he was turning to walk down the pavement that he spotted a familiar figure sitting on the ground with his back against the wall, using his legs as a sort of desk while his pen flew across the page of the textbook.

"Never thought I'd see the day Kaiba actually wrote in a book." he called, walking towards the brunette who jumped in surprise.

"Mutt?"

"Back to calling me that now?" the blonde asked as he trudged over, his eyebrows raised and arms tightening even more around the books as he waited to see how he was received.

"Well thats all you are." Seto spat, venom in his voice and fury in his eyes. Joey froze where he was, his eyes widening in shock. He'd thought Seto might've calm down.

"Seto-"

"Don't call me that." he snapped, slamming his book shut. Joey felt tears sting his eyes and he reached up with one arm and brushed them away furiously.

"I'm sorry…" he whispered, suddenly finding the ground interesting. "I didn't mean-"

"Of course you didn't. Because you don't mean anything! And do you know why? Because you don't think!" Seto growled, his eyes lit up in anger as he got to his feet. "You.. you just… Dammit Wheeler!"

Joey watched as the other boy seemed to wrestle with himself, his gaze wavering from Joey to the ground then back to Joey again before he just suddenly grabbed his bag and turned to walk away.

"Where are you going?" he couldn't stop himself from asking.

"Away."

"Seto… Seto please wait!" Joey cried as he followed the boy, reaching out and grabbing his shoulder. Seto whirled around in frustration and was about to open his mouth when he spotted Joeys frightened face with eyes that seemed to be welling up in tears.

"M-Mutt?"

"Please Seto… I'm scared!" Joey suddenly cried, feeling the overwhelming emotions finally hit him.

The realisation that he was being kicked out of school for being poor, that he had no place to go, he had no future, he had no life, he had nothing was just to much of a reality to face.

"Please…"

He was surprised when Seto bit his lip before reaching out and pulling him into a small hug. "Whats up Mutt?" he asked casually, almost all anger gone from his tone. Joey felt a considerable amount of weight fall of his shoulders and he allowed the flood gates to open a little, letting a few tears make their way down his cheeks.

"I… Mr Evans has kicked me out." he mumbled, feeling Seto's arms tighten around his waist.

"What?"

"My mother can't afford to pay for both me and my sister to attend high school. So she had to pick one…" he trailed off then took a deep breath. "One to, I guess you could say, 'Let go'"

Seto was dead quiet as he guided Joey over to the fence and forced him to sit down before joining him, taking the books out of Joeys hands and placing them beside him. They sat in silence for a long time until Joey finally realised why Seto wasn't saying anything. He was waiting for him to speak, for him to finish cracking so he could begin to start picking up the pieces. More tears followed after the other rouge ones and with one hand he reached up and brushed them away, disgusted by the fact he was reduced to crying.

"I don't know what to do now. School was the only thing I had a chance of doing well." he sighed, his eyes crestfallen. "All I guess I can do now is… is…"

He couldn't even finish his sentence as he felt his feelings take over and he broke, tears gushing out of his eyes but no sound coming out of his lips. Seto had obviously been waiting for that as he placed an awkward arm around Joeys shoulders, trying to comfort him. He'd done it lots of times to Mokuba but he was more comfortable with his brother. They sat in silence again, drawing in the comfort of the other.

After what felt like hours but was only a few minutes, a sleek limo pulled up in front of them and Roland got out, his eyebrows raised.

"Would you like us to call the school and tell them we'll be late Mr Kaiba?" he asked, sighing when Seto nodded and held Joeys books out for him to collect before he got back into the car. Joey frowned and looked up at Seto.

"School?"

"Mokuba got in trouble for creating a rebellion in gym and throwing the teacher in the pool." Seto muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose as he let out a deep breath. Joeys eyes widened and he pulled Seto's arm off him.

"Well you should go then!" he cried, pushing Seto lightly. Rolling his eyes, the brunette caught Joeys wrist and forced it onto the fence.

"You need more help right now."

"I need more than help."

Joey slapped a hand over his mouth when he realised what he'd said and internally groaned when he saw Seto raised an eyebrow. Now knowing he wouldn't get anywhere without an explanation, he sighed and got up, moving on to the stairs and plopping down, Seto right behind him.

"I'm a mess Kaiba."

"Gathered that."

"No." Joey fixed him with a tight look, his eyes narrowed. "I'm a real mess. I'm a school drop out, a abused kid, a prostitute, a liability, a messed in the head freak, a poor-"

"Prostitute?"

Joey groaned and covered his face, realising that'd slipped in. Peeking through his fingers, he saw Seto's drained, shocked face staring at him.

"Yes. I'm a goddamn whore. Call me what you will, insult me, laugh at me. I don't fucking care." he suddenly spat, his eyes glowing in anger. For a nano-second he'd thought that Seto wouldn't of cared about it, just shrugged it off and moved on. Looking away, he half expected to feel Seto get up and leave him there. He was just a filthy slut right?

"Thats what happened the other night."

The blondes head popped up in shock when he heard Seto's voice laced with kindness and compassion. Looking at the other boy, he slowly nodded.

"Only it was worse than normal…" he whispered. Seto nodded and moved closer, knowing that if Joey accepted his next request he was most likely going to become quieter.

"Tell me?"

Joey gazed at Seto for a long time before hesitantly nodding. Wringing his hands together, he began to speak, proving Seto's suspicions right when his voice was hardly louder than a whisper.

"It started just any normal night. I got home after five and thought he might have drunken himself unconscious but I forgot that it was friday." he took a deep breath before glancing up at Seto. "I normally sleep on the neighbors couch or outside somewhere on friday nights. Its Dads 'friend' night then. When he and a bunch of mates get together to drink each other under the table and on the rare occasion buy some hookers for the night."

He felt awkward doing so but Joey hesitantly reached out and slipped his rough, calloused hand into Seto's, surprised at the softness that met him. Thinking that Seto would pull his hand away and yell at him, Joey braced himself for the abuse and was even more shocked when Seto gently squeezed his hand, urging him to continue.

"Well, I got home and went inside completely oblivious only to find them halfway through their night about to send out to get some hookers and beer." he murmured, and Seto had to move even closer to hear him. "Dad was furious that I'd interrupted them and decided to hand me over to his friends while he popped out to buy more beer. They all agreed that I'd be a fun drinking game. They pulled out a dice and all six of them chose a number. Whoever's number it landed on got to…" he shuddered as the memories fought to the surface of his conscience. "Got to do whatever they wanted to me while the others had to drink.

"I was beaten over twenty times and raped five." he barely managed to choke out, thick tears clouding his eyes as he crushed Seto's hand. "I-I didn't know what to do when they'd all passed out. I just laid in the corner wanting to just die… but then Dad came home and saw me. I don't think I've ever seen him that angry. He dragged me onto the couch before waking everyone up and throwing them out, smashing them with beer bottles and cans." Joey frowned and looked down at their entwined hands, his bottom lip wobbling. "I don't know why he did that, as if he was protecting me. I managed to get up though and then I ran. I ran as fast as I could until I got lost in all the streets. And then I walked, wanting nothing more than to just go home."

Joey couldn't speak anymore as grief overtook him and he collapsed in on himself, silent tears sliding down his face but Seto knew what happened after that. He'd ended up at the Kaiba Mansion and the rest was history. Silently, he squeezed Joeys hand again but did nothing more, knowing that if the boy wanted more comfort he would make it clear. It took a few moments but soon Joey was able to gain his composure back and was able to look Seto in the face, his eyes red and puffy as he wiped away the remainder of his tears with his free hand. Seto gently stroked the back of Joeys hand with his thumb while he waited for the boy to speak.

"You hate me now don't you? You think I'm disgusting." the blonde whispered, staring down at their joined hands, drinking in the sight of what would quite possible be the last time Seto would show him any kindness.

"No."

His head shot up in surprise and he gazed at the brunette who was looking over at the waiting limo, his eyes emotionless.

"What do you-"

"I mean exactly what I said." Seto replied as he got to his feet and dragged Joey up with him. Without letting go of the other boys hand, he began walking towards the limo.

"Seto?" Joey seemed to ask as he followed him obediently. When they stopped in front of the long car, Roland seemed to appear out of nowhere and opened the door. Quietly, Seto turned around and fixed Joey with a steady gaze.

"Get in."

Joeys eyes almost fell out of their sockets. "What?"

"Get in the car."

"No, I know what you said but what do you mean?"

"I mean, get your ass in the car."

"No! What do you want me-"

"Dammit Wheeler! Just get in the goddamn car!" Seto snarled, shoving the boy in before sliding in beside him. Joey fell back on the comfy, leather seats in an ungraceful heap and managed to untangle himself just as Seto elegantly plopped down on the seat opposite him, a small smirk on his lips.

"Where are we going?" Joey asked, his eyes wide with what looked like fear.

"First we're getting Mokuba, second we're getting something to eat and then we're going to enroll you back into school." Seto said, his voice stern. "And then you're moving in."

XxXxXxXxX

Seto's eyes were restless as he sat cross legged on the bed, one hand lying delicately on his lap while the other rested on a mass of blonde hair, stroking it softly.

It was another new routine that had come up after Joey had moved in a month ago. They'd go to bed and Seto would get maybe an hour or two of sleep before tormented screams would wake him up as they ricocheted through the house. He'd get up to join Joey in his bedroom and sooth the boy as he sobbed desperately, clinging on to Seto and crying hysterically into either his shoulder or lap. After what would feel like hours, the blonde would eventually calm down and fall asleep again. At first Seto had just gotten up and gone back to bed only to be woken up again roughly two hours later and have to repeat the process. Finally he ended up just staying in the room and on the occasion fall asleep beside the boy. Luckily he'd wake up an hour or so before Joey so he was able to worm his way out of the common entanglement the two would end up in to avoid the confrontation.

It wasn't good though. Seto was slowly turning back into a wreck. He was fine with the way Joey was acting because he himself had gone through the same thing.

After Gozaburo had died and Seto had been free, nightmares had plagued him, destroying whatever sanity he might have regained throughout the day until finally he had to be put on medication to allow to him to sleep.

He'd been on that medication for over nine years.

And now that Joey had moved in and his sleeping patterns were being tarnished, he couldn't take it and he could almost feel the nightmares wanting to come back. Come back and destroy him again.

Sighing, Seto looked down at the boy who's head was lying softly in his lap. Mokuba had talked to him about putting Joey on the same medication but he'd refused, knowing that it wouldn't really help as much as he would wish it could. Joey was broken and nothing artificial could help. Plus Joey would hate having to rely on some stupid pill to get him through life, just like Seto already did.

"Seto..." a small voice moaned and Seto jumped as hands were suddenly twisting around his pajama pants, pulling them up slightly. Glancing down he saw Joeys face contort into a scared, twisted look and he frowned.

Joey had on the occasion spoken in his sleep and normally it'd been about one of his friends or his sister but lately he'd been mentioning Seto a lot followed by a small smile or laugh. This time though he seemed almost in pain.

"Please.. Seto don't leave me... I'll be good I promise..." Joey whimpered, burying his head further into Seto's lap. Seto grimaced when he realised the boy must be having a nightmare.

"Joey, Joey wake up." he whispered, his eyes attempting to slip shut as the feeling of sleep yearned to take over, but his determination to make sure Joey was okay spurred him on.

"Seto… Don't go!" Joey suddenly screamed, his eyes flying open and his hands clenching more than just the pants, leaving Seto to gasp in pain as Joeys fingers dug into the skin of his legs.

"Dammit Wheeler." he hissed, but was surprised when Joey suddenly relaxed again, closing his eyes and falling back asleep.

With a small sigh, Seto looked away from the blonde and up at the ceiling, many more thoughts running through his mind.

It scared him to think that Joey was having a nightmare about him. He didn't want the boy to have anything but positive feelings. Quietly, his hand begun to gently stroke Joeys hair again, twirling and threading it through his fingers.

What scared him even more though was the realisation that he, Seto Kaiba, was starting to grow feelings for him, Joey Wheeler.

No, not started growing, had grown.

Seto had thought for a moment that it'd been some stupid teenage faze he was going through but after more than a week of wanting to just kiss Joey, hug him and do so much more, he'd had to face the fact that he was falling for him.

With his free hand, Seto grabbed a fistful of his hair and tugged it roughly. It wasn't okay for him to have feelings for another man. He had to fall for a woman, he had to supply a heir for the company and it wasn't fair to force that on Mokuba, no matter how keen he might be if it meant his brother would be happy.

Sighing, blue eyes fell down to stare into brown ones...

Wait..

Brown ones?

Seto jumped when he saw Joey looking up at him with wide, honey brown eyes, his head still resting in Seto's lap and his hands on his knees.

"Hey Seto" he whispered, offering the shocked teen a small smile. Seto's mouth fell open and his hand instantly froze in Joeys hair. Just as he was about to pull it out, a tanned hand caught his wrist.

"Please continue.." the owner mumbled, burying his head even deeper into Seto's lap. Obediently, Seto continued to play with the blonde tresses, his mind just about exploding.

"You're not surprised I'm here?" he asked nervously as his eyes stayed trained on the boy who lay in his lap, eyes closed and hands tightening again around Seto's attire.

"Why should I be? It's normal." the blonde breathed, smiling at the feel of Seto's long fingers playing with his hair. The brunette instantly felt a save of stupidity hit him.

Of course Joey would know he spent most nights with him. God he felt like an idiot! If Joey would wake up when he hadn't been the room, why would he stop when he was? He'd probably woken up numerous times which meant...

Seto's face paled considerably as he felt the shock of realising that Joey most likely knew all about the awkward positions he'd climb out of in the morning.

He had no idea what to say as he felt the lump in his throat begin to make permanent residence when he Joey suddenly chuckled, the sweet sound invading Seto's ears.

"You thought I didn't know." he said, his eyes lighting up with amusement. Seto awkwardly nodded his head and looked away.

"Thank you."

The brunette frowned at Joeys next choice of words. Thank you?

"For what?" he asked, his eyes wide with confusion.

"For being here. You give me comfort Seto." Joey sighed, before grinning up at the other man.

"I-I..." Seto didn't know what to say instead he gave Joey a smile, causing the boy to freeze.

"You're smiling? At me?"

"I've done it before."

"Not at at me you haven't!"

Seto just rolled his eyes and looked away, allowing them to drop into an easy silence. Well as easy a it could get after the two found out that they both knew that Seto had been sharing a bed with Joey for the past month.

Suddenly, Joey started giggling madly, causing Seto to frown down at him.

"What's so funny Mutt?" he asked, his brows furrowed.

"Haven't you realised that technically for the past month we've been sleeping together!" Joey laughed, his perverted mind taking over. "And we're both straight!"

'Yeah… Both straight' Seto thought sadly but forced a small smile on the outside.

"I should go..." he suddenly mumbled, wriggling his way out of the bed and heading to the door. The laughter stopped almost instantly and Joeys worried eyes flickered to Seto.

"Why! Seto please don't go!" he practically begged, half climbing out of the bed as he attempted to stop Seto. The brunette awkwardly stood at the door, the hesitation obvious in his stance.

"You're right, it's weird. For two guys to sleep in the same bed that aren't... Well you know." Seto couldn't even finish his sentence before he felt a hand slip into his own and he was pulled around to face a scared Joey.

"Please stay Seto.. Please don't leave me." Joey whimpered, tugging on a shocked Seto's hand. Those were almost the exact words Joey had said before in his nightmare. Sighing, he followed Joey back to the bed and was even more surprised when Joey forced him down in his earlier cross legged position before placing his head back in Seto's lap. Without having to be asked, the brunette once again began petting the mop of blonde hair, a small smile gracing his lips.

They stayed in an even longer silence this time, just enjoying each others company. Every now and again though, Seto could feel Joeys brown eyes land on him for a long moment but they were always closed when he looked down.

"When was the last time you slept?"

Seto smirked, he'd been wait for the inevitable question that would be asked.

"Just befor-"

"No. The last time you slept more than two hours. A proper sleep."

Seto stared down at the blonde for a long time, his eyes scratching over every surface.

"Why?" he hissed, shooting him a narrow glare. Quickly, Joey wriggled around until he was sitting cross legged in front of the brunette, his head cocked to the side.

"Why won't you tell me?"

"Why do you want to know." Seto deadpanned, getting off the bed again to leave the room. Joeys hand shot out and took Seto's, forcing him back.

"Seto, I know you don't sleep. You're tired all the time, you're school grades are dropping, you're work load is increasing. I see you after work everyday sit in the limo right up until the driver gets out and wakes you up." his eyes were wide with concern as he pushed the boy down on the bed. "Why?"

Set stated at Joey before glancing down at his hands. It was true, everything was getting worse and he was getting more and more tired... And although he hated to admit it, he was falling back into the state of depression he'd managed to worm his way out of years ago when Gozaburo died.

Oh great, back to Gozaburo. Seto hated that everything he did always led back to that man. Then again, he had been his "father" for a while and his whole life had been built around his.

Taking in a deep breath, he fixed Joey with his gaze.

"I'm on medication." he started, watching as Joey leaned in to hear his confession. "Medication to help me sleep. I've been on it for nine years."

Joey frowned at the brunette. "Why?"

A short bark of sad laughter came out of Seto's mouth and he gave Joey an almost insane grin.

"Why? Because of my nightmares. I have them too. I've always had them, ever since I was ten." He chuckled darkly. "I started taking it after the first year of living with Gozaburo. I used to be plagued by these nightmares every night up to the fact that I just wouldn't sleep. Unfortunately, this left me useless as I couldn't focus in the morning and what use was a tired boy who wouldn't study? So he got me medication that would basically knock me out for five hours."

"And you still use it?"

"It's my only escape."

Joey watched the brunette drop his head and his shoulders shake. He felt an overwhelming sense of hate take over him when be thought about what Gozaburo must have done to him to create such nightmares.

"Why aren't you taking them?" he asked, his brows pinched together. Seto bit his lip and looked at the blonde through his veil of hair.

"Because of you." he whispered, watching as Joey recoiled. "You need someone to look after you and I can't do that if I'm knocked out on some sleeping drug."

"B-But you can't sleep otherwise!"

"I can sleep. I've done it before in here with you."

"But you still have nightmares don't you. I hear you whimper Seto." Quietly Joey shuffled forward and placed a gentle hand on Seto's cheek. "You should start taking that medication again."

"And let you suffer?" he spat back, ripping his face away and glaring at Joey. "I'm not about to let you turn into a me."

"What do you mean! You're..." he wanted to blurt out 'amazing' but he knew that it would just sound wrong, well coming from a supposedly straight guy.

"A wreck. That's what I am Joey."

If he hadn't been worried about the lost look that was all over Seto's face, Joey would've been jumping for joy at the fact that had finally called him Joey... Well to his face anyway and not in the situation when it would probably be the only way to calm him down.

"..." no words came out if his mouth though as he looked at the brunette. Instead he reached out and attempted to hug him, only to be pushed off.

"I really should go." Seto muttered before getting off the bed for the third time. Joey watched him leave, his eyes wide.

The man was messed up, that was obvious but Joey hadn't been aware of what he was really like. And he thought he, himself, was emotionally unstable!

He was going to help Seto. And that was that.

XxXxXxXxX

"Ah Mokie? Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Come on Joey! Take a risk for once!"

Joey swallowed the lump in his throat as he followed the black haired boy in front of him, his hands opening and closing nervously as they made their way to Seto's office on the top floor of the mansion.

"What if he comes home?"

"He's not due home for another hour! We won't be too long! And anyway, Roland's making sure we have plenty of time!" Mokuba said, waving his hand as if to wave off Joeys terror.

"You told Roland!" Joey shrieked. Mokuba rolled his eyes.

"Relax! Roland's on our side. He wants to know what happened to Seto to make him... Well Seto."

Joey stared at the smaller boy as they stopped in front of the huge office doors. The kid was smart but really? He was trusting Seto's right hand man to keep a secret from him? Either the kid was insane or slightly delusional.

The sudden click of the door unlocking shocked Joey back to reality and he watched as Mokuba pushed it open, slipping into the room. With a small defeated sigh, Joey followed.

"So you're sure you disabled the cameras?"

"You watched me do it Joey. Seriously! Stop worrying!"

Without breaking a stride, Mokuba scurried over to the huge mahogany desk and slipped into he chair, flicking on the computer before watching Joey marvel at the room.

Sure he'd been in once or twice but he'd never gotten a good look at it. On the left side of the room, mahogany bookcases lined the wall except in the middle where two comfy sofas sat with a coffee table between them, already covered in books. On the other side though sat another sofa with it's back against the wall and some class cases that were full of duel monsters stuff, ranging from multiple duel disks to thousands of cards. The whole back wall in front of him though was made entirely of glass, giving and amazing view out over the city and two simple armchairs sat in front of the gigantic desk.

"Wow Mokie! This place is amazing!" Joey laughed, moving over to the coffee table to see what books Seto read. He was surprised to find a lot of fantasy books littered amongst the business ones. "Secret passion?" he asked the younger brother as he held up one.

"Seto uses those for finding out new cards." Mokuba smiled, joining Joey. Quietly he took the book off the blonde and smiled at it. "Blur the Blue Dragon was his favourite book." he said, pointing at the blue eyes white dragon on the cover.

"So thats where he got his addiction from."

"Yes and no. I think that Seto likes the blues eyes so much because... Well because it's so much like him."

Joey frowned but nodded his head. He could see what Mokuba meant. There were so many comparisons between the two even though one existed while the other was nothing but a card. He watched as Mokuba placed the book down before trotting back over to the computer, plopping down and typing wildly. Quietly so as to not distract him, Joey made his way over and took a seat on the desk, perching on the edge and twisting his head to look at the screen.

"And… We're on!" Mokuba cheered, a childish grin lighting up his face. Joey chuckled and rolled his eyes.

"I'll have a look in his draws, see what you can find on there."

"Sweet as!" Mokuba agreed, quickly starting to scroll through everything.

Joey slipped off the desk and knelt down beside it, ready to open up the draws. The first one held paper, paper and more paper, all to do with KaibaCorp. With a sigh he tossed them back in before opening the second, freezing when he saw what was on top.

"Mokie, where did Seto get this?" he asked, pulling out the small item. Mokuba swiveled around in his chair before smiling, his eyes dancing with merriment.

"Oh! Tea gave that to him a month or so ago! Its cute aye!" Mokuba grinned at Joey. "I don't really know why she did... But yeah!"

Joey stared at the small item and couldn't help but smile. It was an exact carbon copy of the toy Tea had given him. A blue eyes and red eyes joined together by their tails in a heart shape. He gently placed it back in the draw before pulling open the last one, curious as to what else could be hidden. Joey was a surprised when inside it was nothing but a simple box but he still reached in to pull it out and set it down in the desk while beside him Mokuba swiveled around to look at it, a deep frown on his face.

"Whats in it?" he asked, his eyes widening as Joey cracked it open. Inside was a small pile of what looked like photos and on top was a small locket.

"Familiar?" he asked, holding out the small, gold item. Mokuba smiled and took it off him.

"It was mums." he whispered, stroking it. Joey smiled before looking back down and pulling out the photos, smiling at the top one.

"Your mum and dad?" he inquired, angling the picture of two dancing adults to show Mokuba. the boy nodded and stood up so as to see over Joeys shoulder as he flicked throughout them. Pictures of the Kaiba's parents flicked past as did lots of Mokuba and Seto together, but it wasn't until a gruesome one popped up that the two stopped and froze.

"My god..." they whispered together as they stared at the picture.

A young looking Seto had his back to the camera, but that wasn't what was wrong. No it was the fact that his back was bare and ripped to shreds by what looked like a whip, blood everywhere.

Worrying about Mokuba, who's breath had quickened as his hand tightened on the blondes shoulder, digging in with his nails, Joey quickly flicked past the picture before freezing on the next, the picture almost more gruesome than the last.

Seto holding his mutilated, torn to shred arms out.

The other two led out small gasps before Joey began flicking through them all, faster than before, eyes growing wider with horror with each passing picture.

Seto slaving over some books with a knife pressed to his throat.

An unconscious Seto on the ground, head bleeding and arm twisted in an odd angle.

A screaming Seto as he hung from the roof from his wrists, his torso covered in what appeared to be cigar burns.

And finally a naked Seto barely covered by an old rag of a blanket as he cried.

They could almost feel the vomit as it tried to burst out of their mouths when they landed on the last one. Joey allowed it to flutter back down in the box before he started taking in deep breaths, his mind racing as each photo re-appeared in front of his eyes, burning themselves in his memory to torture him later in his sleep.

Who could do such a thing?

"I-I never knew that..." Mokuba trailed off as the horror showed on his face. Sure he knew that Seto was beaten by Gozaburo but... but never to this extent. Although it might not have been Gozaburo… it couldn't have! But who else could it have been? To many of these thoughts were hammering through his head, overwhelming him and silent tears began to gather in his eyes. Gently, Joey reached out and pulled the boy into a tight embrace, stroking his hair as he buried his face into Joeys chest.

"I know... I know..." the blonde whispered. He'd never have thought that Seto could have gone through all that... and still be alive. Glancing over at the computer, he cocked his head at the screensaver.

"Why does he have a picture of all of us?" he softly asked Mokuba, tenderly pulling the boy back and pointing towards the screen. Mokuba frowned before joining him, gazing at the monitor and cracking a small smile. The screen was taken over by one photo, a bit cheerful for the CEO. It'd been taken just before Atem left when all of them actually kinda got along.

Yugi and Atem stood in the middle side by side, tear stained faces as they forced smiles while Yugi appeared to be leaning into his Yami. Tristan and Duke sat in front if them, the black haired man draping himself lightly on Tristan while the brunette held his fingers up in bunny ears. Marik and Bakura stood beside Atem, Ryou on Bakura's back and Malik kneeling in front of his Yami. Tea stood with Mai and Serenity on the other side of Yugi, all three winking at the camera and with them standing in a sort of can-can girl position. Finally Joey sat in front of them, Duke on one side while Seto sat on the other, Mokuba on his lap with a goofy grin.

Joey smiled as he gazed at the rather pissed off Seto. He'd refused to sit down until Tea had forced him to drop beside Joey and Mokuba had quickly scurried onto his lap to keep him down.

"Because you guys are the closest things he has to friends." Mokuba whispered, smiling despite the sad truth of it. Joey felt a few tears prick his eyes buy he couldn't look away from the on screen picture, his heart leaping into his chest as he saw what looked like a small smile tugging on Seto's lips. Trying to find some way to distract himself, he began looking at all the icon sized files the young CEO had on his computer, his eyes going from document to document.

Until he saw a file on the desktop that caught his eye.

"Mokie? Can we play that?" he asked the younger boy, pointing over at the file. Mokuba frowned and turned around, glancing at the screen before nodding and clicking on it. The thumbnail had shown what looked like more photos of a young Seto but it surprised the both when they saw it was actually a video.

_A young Seto lay curled up under his bed sheets, his eyes closed but small tears still gathered at the corner of them before trailing down his face, over the lips that were pulled in a tight line, desperate to keep the throat ripping sobs from falling out of his mouth. His hands were tightly grasped together around a pillow as he hugged it, desperate for comfort. The room around him was dark and foreboding, suiting the boys trembling body._

_Suddenly, the door slammed open and light spilled in, illuminating Seto as he cried out and scrambled off the bed, dragging the pillow with him and attempting to conceal himself with it in the corner. A deep, throaty laugh echoed through the room and a tall menacing figure stepped forward, walking towards the cowering boy._

_"Crying are we?" the man spat, leaning down and grabbing a handful of Seto's hair, laughing as the brunette screamed in pain. _

_"I'm s-sorry!" Seto sobbed, reaching up and tugging on the mans wrist, but only earned a backhand to the face before being thrown onto the bed._

"Oh my god…" Mokuba whispered, and Joey gave him a questioning look. Who was that man?

"Mokie…"

"Thats Gozaburo…" he replied, understanding what Joey was wondering instantly.

_"No you're not. You're pathetic." Gozaburo snarled, storming forward and flipping the child onto his back. "You don't deserve to live, do you?"_

_"N-no…" Seto whimpered, more tears spilling out of his eyes as one hand cupped his bright red, inflamed cheek. Gozaburo laughed in his face before smacking Seto's hand away and pinching the tender skin, his smirk growing bigger as Seto began mewling in pain, obviously holding back an anguished scream._

_"Now tell me Seto…" Gozaburo murmured, pulling Seto's face closer to his own and staring with his black, soulless eyes into Seto's hollow, terrified ones. "Just how worthless are you?"_

_"Very F-Father." he stuttered, resisting the urge to struggle out of Gozaburo's grip._

Joey felt a slight feeling of disgust come over him. Not only was Gozaburo… torturing Seto, but he was also forcing him to lie? What disturbed him even more though was Seto's willingness to still call the man his father. Beside him, Mokuba shifted in his lap and Joey glanced down, surprised to see his eyes huge and wet with unshed tears. Quietly, he reached out and gently placed a hand on Mokuba's shoulder for some sort of comfort. He knew that he could offer to stop the video but Mokuba's determined gaze instantly put him off the idea and he turned back to the screen.

_"I am not your father!" Gozaburo screeched, flinging Seto to the ground before grabbing his throat and smashing him up against the wall, ignoring the fact that the boy was too weak to even respond. "You're a bastard child. A fatherless, motherless being. You killed your parents. You and your brother with your stupid childish antics. If only you hadn't of drunken the last of that milk Seto, if only you hadn't made your daddy go out to get more for… for milkshakes." He spat the last part, watching in sick delight as what he said sunk into the child's brain, alienating him. "If only you'd waited maybe another day… then he wouldn't have gotten in that accident. Maybe he would have lived and Mokuba would be living happily with his father at least."_

_He knew he'd hit the boys last wall of strength with the jab about his brother when he saw Seto's face crumble, his tears falling faster and faster._

_"I'm sorry…" he spoke softly, his voice barely heard over the roar of laughter that echoed out of Gozaburo's mouth._

_"Sorry? Oh no you're not. You're glad they're dead. Maybe you planned it, their death. Maybe you knew what was going to happen. Maybe you're planning Mokuba's death right now?" Maybe you want to destroy your family Seto?" he leaned closer and Seto didn't even flinch when the horrible smell of alcohol and cigarettes beat against his face._

An uncommon bubble of rage built up before Joeys eyes and he could feel Mokuba trembling underneath his hand. This man was crazy, abusive, psychotic, derogatory… and Joey hated his guts. Every word he said would hit Seto with a great force and even though it was just a video, Joey could see the desperate need to be loved trembling in the dull blue eyes that belonged to the whimpering child. The blonde just wanted to reach into the screen and pull him out, curl him up on his lap and rock him to sleep with as much gentleness as he could muster.

_Seto's mouth fell open in a loud anguished scream as Gozaburo threw him onto the bed, his head slamming against the side of the wooden sides as he slid across the sheets, only being stopped when his 'father' grabbed his ankle and drew him back._

_"I think its time for your punishment." he snarled through gritted teeth and Seto had to bite back the cry of fear that was trying to tear its way out of his mouth as Gozaburo once again flipped him over. He knew what was installed for him next but he could never prepare himself for the pain. And pain was all he felt when suddenly Gozaburo's hand launched out and grabbed his crotch, squeezing it so tight that Seto felt as if his skin was going to tear._

_"Are you going to cry?" Gozaburo hissed, twisting the handful of groin he'd managed to get and watching with sick arousal as Seto's eyes tore up in pain. "Is little Seto going to cry?"_

_"N-No…" the small boy whined, resisting the urge to kick out with his legs and knock the man away from him. He'd learnt it the hard way though that whatever Gozaburo wanted… he got._

_"Well then, lets make that happen." he snarled before he pulled on Seto's genitals causing the boy to scream in white hot agony, his eyes squeezing shut and his cry ripping his throat to shreds as he lay suffering. Gozaburo joined in the agonizing scream with a maniacal laugh, his eyes dancing with mirth as he watched the boy wither beneath him, loving the view and what his hand clasped tightly. Finally after a long moment he released the boy, panting with excitement as Seto quietened down into ear splitting sobs as he pulled his legs up to his chest, rocking himself back and forth sideways on the bed. _

_"Poor Seto… let Daddy make it all better…" Gozaburo murmured, a disgusting smirk flying across his face as he forced his way in to undo Seto's pants, his own groin throbbing with desire._

Luckily the screen was blacked out by Gozaburo's fat ass so they couldn't see anymore, or Joey would've had to take the hysterical Mokuba on top of him straight to therapy as he managed to mute the sound and hug the boy, rocking him back and forth in an attempt to calm him down. Joey cringed every now and again as Gozaburo would move for a moment, reveling a naked, cringing Seto before covering back up and Joey knew that petrified screams would be normally heard if the sound was on. The blonde could feel small tears prick his own eyes when he began to understand what Seto had gone through, why he was convinced he was the one to help Joey, why he was so cold and flinched at the most aggressive movements.

"I d-didn't know J-Joey…" Mokuba mumbled into the blondes chest and Joey sighed, stroking the boys hair.

"I know." he whispered back and had a small sense of deja vu from before. Slowly, Mokuba began to calm down and luckily enough that was just as Gozaburo seemed to have finished with Seto, causing Joey to turn on the sound after a nod from Mokuba.

_"-worthless pile of trash." Gozaburo snarled, moving out of the way of the camera to show Seto, curled up in a ball on the bed, stark naked with tears gushing down his face and his eyes hollow, showing no emotion. With a despicable laugh, Gozaburo threw a blanket at Seto which barely covered him before zipping up his pants and strolling forward, grabbing Seto's mandible and thrusting his head upwards, exposing his throat as he stared down into the cold pits that were Seto's eyes. _

_"You were better this time…" he growled, his voice deep with hatred and power. Seto flinched when Gozaburo raised his other hand and gripped his throat, slowly strangling him. "I'll be back later to deal the last of the punishment."_

_And with that he let go of Seto, laughing as he crashed to the bed with a whimper before he swept out, rolling his shoulders. Seto continued to curl up into a tight ball again, trying to pull the blanket to cover himself before he dissolved into tears, covering his face as his sobs wracked through the room._

Seto was quiet as he entered his unusually unlocked study, his eyes searching wearily for any unwanted intruders. He stepped in slowly, closing the door gently behind him before his gaze fell on the two people behind the desk, their eyes locked intensely on the computer screen. Seto was about to say something to acknowledge his presence, when he heard familiar crying coming out of the speakers and his eyes widened when he realised what exactly they were doing… or watching.

With a loud crack, his suitcase slipped out of his hand and crashed to the ground, falling open and spilling his papers everywhere, before his coat, that'd been in the other hand, fell on the other side of him. Joey and Mokuba jumped at the sound and turned around to see Seto standing there, his eyes wide with horror.

"S-Seto?" Mokuba choked out, brushing the tears that were still dripping down his face away as he crawled out of Joeys lap and rushed over to his brother, throwing his arms around his waist and shoving his face into Seto's stomach. The brunette frowned for a moment, almost dazed before hugging the black haired boy back, his eyes focused more on the blonde who was shakily getting to his feet.

"Seto it was my fault." Joey instantly cried and the brunette couldn't help but mentally smirk. Typical Joey.

"Mokuba-"

"No! No I convinced him Seto!" the younger boy cried, more tears welling up in his eyes.

"Mokuba." Seto started again, avoiding looking at his brother. "Go to your room."

"But-"

"Now."

Hesitantly the boy nodded his head and hugged Seto again, whispering a 'sorry' into his chest before rushing out of the room, avoiding the paperwork littering the floor. The two that were left were quiet, Joey watching Seto, waiting for something to happen, for some twitch of his muscles to show he was going to leap at him, some movement in his mouth to show he was going to speak. Anything. But the other male was too busy staring intently at the door as he waited for it to click shut. As soon as it did though, Seto's harsh blue eyes swung around and locked on Joey.

"I'll pack my bags-" Joey started but was cut off when Seto raised a hand and stopped him mid sentence.

"Just shut up."

Joey instantly fell silent, his eyes training themselves on the vexed man, who's own eyes wandering around the debris on the ground. Not a moment longer, Seto knelt down and rummaged through, surprising Joey when he saw he wasn't trying to clean it up but pull something out. As soon as he had though, Seto was on his feet and brushing passed Joey not so gently and slumping down behind the computer, his shoulders hunched and a hand finding its way to be buried deep in the mass of brown hair on his head.

The blonde watched him while saying nothing, only waiting for the brunette to finish what he was doing. Seto also stayed in silence, a few clicks of his mouse being the only sound to run through the room before he pulled out the object that Joey had identified as a memory stick, deleted the file and turned to the desk, freezing when he saw the box Joey had pulled out earlier. Seeing the look on Seto's face, Joey stepped forward, his eyes wide.

"S-Seto-"

"Dammit Wheeler. You know how to screw things up don't you?" he heard Seto cut in again with a quiet, hurt voice. Joey moved forward until his front was pressed against the desk and observed Seto as he picked up the locket that was lying beside the box and dropped it in, followed shortly by the memory stick. He then closed it and placed in back in the bottom draw before placing his elbows on the desk and burying his head in his hands, his shoulders shaking slightly. Joey started nibbling on his bottom lip as he tried figuring out what to do, his eyes wide.

"You can leave if you so wish. I know you'll never be able to look at me the same." Seto whispered, his voice muffled by his palms. Nodding his head, Joey began walking, but not away towards the door, but around the large desk until he was right beside Seto.

"I'm not leaving yet." he sighed. Seto pulled his head out of his hands and glared at Joey, his eyes narrow with anger.

"What do you want Mutt?" he snarled, his hands tightening into fists. "You know enough to ruin me, so what do you want?"

Joey frowned before seeing the way the man was thinking. He could easily take this information out into the public area and within days, maybe even hours, KaibaCorp would lose everything. Who wants a CEO who was battered, bruised and raped throughout his childhood?

"I want the truth." Joey replied gently, hopping up on top of the desk. Seto's eyes remained skeptic for a while before he looked away out the window wall behind him.

"But-"

"Thats my condition Seto."

Taking a deep breath, the brunette shakily nodded his head, trying to avoid eye contact with Joey as he turned back around.

"I don't know how to start…"

Smiling, Joey reached out and softly cupped Seto's cheeks, forcing the brunette to look at him. "At the beginning." he whispered before pulling Seto along with his chair closer and resting the CEOs head in his lap, beginning to tenderly stroke his hair as he had to Mokuba only minutes beforehand. Sighing, Seto nodded and closed his eyes, loosing himself in the feeling of Joeys hand running across his scalp.

"My parents died when I was young. My mother giving birth to Mokuba when I was five and my father died in an accident when I was eight. We were expected to move in with my aunt and uncle and my cousin but, but they ran off and left him with with our grandfather Solomon."

"Wait… Solomon as in Solomon Moto?" Joey asked, his eyes wide when he felt Seto nod. "You and Yugi are cousins?" Another nod. "Well that explains a lot…"

"He wasn't physically up to having three children to look after so Mokuba and I were shipped off to an orphanage. He tried contacting us but… but we practically disowned him." Seto sighed and opened his eyes, turning his head to look up at Joey. "I'm not proud of it, but I was angry. I wanted Mokuba to be loved and he wasn't able to do so."

Joey nodded in understanding and waited patiently for the brunette to continue.

"So many people wanted to adopt me. Hell, I was smart, sensible, and was everything every jackass in that orphanage wasn't but none wanted Mokuba as well. So we waited in that hell-hole for a year and an half, until Gozaburo turned up for some charity event. We'd known about it for weeks of course, what with the staff running around like headless chickens so I took it upon myself to study his chess techniques for those weeks and then when he turned up I challenged him to a chess duel. If he won then I'd leave him alone, I won he'd take us in. His assistant at the time tried begging me not to and even offered to take us in herself."

Suddenly Seto have a small chuckle and shook his head. "Should have taken her up on that offer but I was too narrow minded and was determined that Gozaburo was the better option. As you can see I won and within days we were here in this huge house being treated like gods.

"It was all fun and games for six months but when I turned ten… that's when it went down hill. I was forced to study. I was beaten, tortured, molested, raped, starved, threatened. Anything to get me to cooperate. While Mokuba was living the high life without me, I was forced to be molded into the perfect robot, the perfect heir to the KaibaCorp industry."

During his confession, the two had made their way over to one of the couches and Seto was currently leaning with his head on Joeys shoulder, his eyes staring at the pile of books on the table while Joey held his hand, squeezing it reassuringly every now and again.

"I felt jealous of Mokuba for so long. He was so innocent, five years my junior and was able to live his life how he wanted. I knew I'd originally done it all for him but I couldn't help but wonder... what about me?"

Small tears began to gather at the corner of his eyes and he dropped his head to look at their entwined hands, surprising himself at the fact he didn't mind the affectionate act he was showing.

"Finally when I was thirteen I began to subtly fight back. I refused to allow him to dominate me and I began to drive him away. Eventually I managed to turn the tables on him completely and take over the company. He killed himself after that, leaving us by ourselves.

"By this time Mokuba had his own friends and everything while I didn't. I could've gone to Yugi but I hadn't seen him or Solomon for years, I hardly knew them. Plus he had you guys. I was alone."

Joey felt a stab of guilt. He and Yugi had only become friends when they were fifteen, three years ago but he didn't have the heart to tell Seto, instead he just nodded his head and waited for him to continue.

"I was only fourteen when the battles for Mokuba and I's custody appeared. There was so many problems. Who'd take over KaibaCorp? Gozaburo had named me in his will as heir so as soon as his non existent heart stopped beating I was the new CEO. They couldn't take me away from that but I refused to let them take Mokuba. It wasn't like I could go up to Solomon though either. He hadn't heard from us in years and it wasn't right to force it all on him. Finally Roland stepped forward and offered himself to be custodian of us until I was sixteen and was able to take care of both me and Mokuba. The judge accepted and Roland has been with me ever since. After the custody battle was dropped three years ago with me turning sixteen, he stayed to be my right hand man.

"You should know the rest."

After a long moment of silence, Joey sighed and hugged Seto, squeezing his arms tightly around him. The CEO didn't relax into the hug but didn't resist it either as he sat there, the tears still present.

"I'm sorry Seto."

"Don't be. Gozaburo made me into who I am." he replied stiffly. Joey chuckled darkly and shook his head, pulling back and noticing the clear moisture gathering in Seto's eyes.

"It's ok to cry." he whispered, cupping Seto's cheek again. Ice blue eyes clashed with honey brown ones and both of them felt their breath hitch in their throats.

They knew everything about each other now. They knew each others weaknesses, they knew each others strengths. They knew each other… but not enough.

"Don't think this makes us friends." Seto smirked, trying and failing to disguise the sadness in his voice. Joey cracked a grin before dragging the boys face into his chest and hugging him firmly but gently.

"Whatever Seto." he chuckled, determined to hold the CEO.

Seto was quiet for a long moment before he slithered his arms around Joeys waist and curled up comfortably beside him. They were silent for a few moments before Seto began to realise that Joey was right. It was okay to cry.

"Thank you Joey." he whispered, allowing the tears to trickle out of his eyes.

"You're welcome Seto."

XxXxXxXxX

Joey was angry.

No, angry was an understatement.

He was furious.

Here he was storming through the mansion trying to find both Seto and Mokuba who had strangely disappeared… on christmas.

"SETO GODDAMN KAIBA! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!" he roared at the top of his lungs as he finished his sweep of the second floor, having already completed the third. With rather ferocious strides, Joey made his way back down the hall with a look of thunder. Seto had promised him a present he'd never forget and of course the prick had to vanish, leaving him by himself and extremely curious. Not a good mixture for the oh so energetic Joey Wheeler.

Finally he made it to the stairs and began descending them, his eyes narrow as he glanced down the hallway in front of him that lead straight to the front door. The front porch had its light on and the ring of holly could be seen through the glass. Turning his head he spotted the living room lights on, unlike before.

"Oi Seto you ass! If you're in here then there'll be hell to pay!" Joey cried, racing towards the room and crashing past the door frame, only to freeze when he saw a grinning Tristan standing in front of him.

"MERRY CHRISTMAS!" he roared, throwing himself at the blonde and dragging him into a strangling hug. Joeys eyes widened and he barely had time to struggle when he felt a new body slam into him.

"Dammit Tris! You're killing him!" the familiar voice of Duke cried. The offending arm that had been around his neck was gone and Joey was able to stand up, glancing behind him to see the two continuing to rumble in the hallway. Rolling his eyes he turned back to the room and froze, spotting everyone.

Seto was casually leaning against the roaring fireplace, a small smirk on his face while Atem stood beside him, seeming to be laughing at the brawling two. Marik was lying on the ground with a lazy smile on his face while his hikari, Malik, was sitting beside him, his face slightly flushed red and his lips bruised, clearly showing what they'd been doing. Tea and Mai were on the couch, their legs hanging over the top and their heads touching the ground in an almost head stand position. But none of this was what shocked him, it was that his mother, Mrs Kawai, was standing across from Seto, her eyes wide with small tears gathering in them while a huge grin split her face.

"M-Mum?" he whispered, his eyes even wider. He hadn't seen her in so long, over four years to be exact and seeing her standing there, nodding her head and opening her arms for a hug which Joey began to stumble towards, was just so overwhelming it felt like a dream. The room blurred out except for his mother as he made his way over... when suddenly four very powerful forces slammed into him, lifting him off the ground and slamming him to the floor.

"MERRY CHRISTMAS JOEY!" four screams echoed from the four heads bunched around his chest. Managing to look down, Joey instantly recognized all four of them, dressed up as elves.

"Ryou? Yugi? Mokuba? Serenity?" he asked each of them, earning nods from all. With a light chuckle, he hugged them back before he felt them being pulled off one by one.

"Let him breath idiots." he heard both Atem and Seto mutter under their breaths before both grabbed a hand and dragged the blonde up, giving him a quick brush off and then sent him stumbling back over to his mother.

Instantly he relaxed as the familiar smell of his mothers perfume entered his sinuses and he cuddled up to her, wrapping his arms around her waist and tucking her head under his chin as she sobbed into his shoulder, a huge smile on her face as she was reunited with her son. He was taller than her now and was a very proud teen but hell, he would always want Mummys cuddles.

Small awes from the girls filled the room and Serenity hurried forward to join in the family hug, the bells attached to her outfit ringing with every movement. The other three elves quietly disbursed as well, Ryou shuffling over to Bakura and plopping down in his lap, Yugi to give Atem a one armed hug and Mokuba to grab Seto's hand and drag him out of the room. Joey noticed this out of the corner of his eye and was about to question it when Duke and Tristan rolled back in, clearly flushed and sheepish.

"So.. surprise!" Duke called, a grin on his face as he clapped Joey on the back, making him accidentally butt heads with Serenity.

"Idiot." he laughed, pulling away and rubbing the sore spot before playfully punching the black haired boy.

He was quiet for a long moment as he looked around at everyone, confused as to why they were there until his mum gently squeezed his waist.

This was Seto's present.

Joey felt tears sting his eyes as he realised that Seto's present he'd never forget was reuniting him with his mother and holding a party with all of his friends. An overwhelming sense of love for the CEO attacked Joey and he quickly buried his head in his mothers hair as he cried.

"J-Joey? You okay man?" Tristan asked, stepping forward with worry, as did everyone else.

"Man! I'm sorry I didn't mean to-" Duke began, clearly thinking he was crying because of his sore head but was cut off when Tea smacked the back of his own head.

"Clearly he's overwhelmed at the moment you idiot." she snapped before reaching out and patting Joeys back sympathetically.

It took him a few moments but Joey finally managed to regain his composure as ideas to repay Seto began shooting through his head, the already huge grin growing bigger and bigger with every idea.

"Hey guys? Dinners ready!" Mokuba's chirpy voice called out from the doorway and true to form, Tristan was the first out of the room followed closely by everyone after seeing Joey was alright. Yugi stayed behind though when Joey grabbed his shoulder.

"I need your help."

It was just over half an hour later when the doorbell rung during the middle of an intense conversation between Tristan, Bakura and Marik about who had the best dirty versions of christmas carols, much to Tea and Mai's disgust, and Joey was out of his chair and barreling towards the front door, Yugi on his heels as they left their dinner on the table. Seto and Mokuba exchanged frowns before they too pushed out their chairs and followed, wondering who it could possibly be. The remainder of the group feel silent, unsure of what to do considering their hosts had all vanished until Tristan laughed and lunged towards the huge roast, Duke hot on his heels as they started tearing pieces off with their hands.

Joey was first to the door though and cheerfully threw it open with a cry of, "Solomon!" before glomping the older man. Yugi quickly joined in the hug before pulling back and dragging the two back into the house, a huge grin on his face.

"So boys. Where are my other grandkids?" Solomon chuckled, and Joey had a moment where he thought that the older man would make the perfect Santa. Shaking his head, he grabbed the Solomon's arm and turned him around.

"In the dining-"

"Solomon?"

The blonde froze when he saw both the Kaiba brothers standing in the hall, Mokuba hiding half behind Seto who'd been the one who spoke. The grandfather of three out of the four boys in the hallway grinned and stepped forward, his arms wide as if for a hug.

"Seto! Mokuba!" he cried, his eyes sparkling with delight. Mokuba's face tore out into a grin and sprinted towards him, hugging him tightly.

"Grandpa!" he laughed as he was twirled around. Joey watched in amusement, it was expected for Mokuba to be happy to see his grandfather, he'd seen him multiple times before when hanging out with the others but Seto was a different story.

Glancing over warily at the silent brunette, Joey bit his lip. What was his reaction going to be? He thought that because Seto had reunited him with his mother he could reunite him with his grandfather… but by the look on his face he couldn't help but wonder if that was a bad idea.

"S-Seto?"

"Joey. Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Not even waiting for a reply, Seto reached out and grabbed Joeys wrist before dragging him into the living room, pulling him all the way over to the fireplace so they wouldn't be overheard. If he hadn't been scared out of his mind, Joey would have acknowledged the butterflies that always jumped in his stomach whenever Seto said his name. Instinctively, he began tugging on his arm, trying to rip it out of Seto's grip until ice blue eyes glared at him.

"Calm down idiot." Seto muttered, letting go of a relieved Joey. "I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to know-"

"Why Solomon's here? I'm sorry Seto! I thought that because you got me and Mum back together well you might like to see your Gramps again but with him actually being your Gramps. Not some obstacle that you have to try getting past. I mean, I understand if you hate me for it. Who knows you might still curse the ground that Solomon walks on for not being able to take you and Mokuba in but well I thought it's time you guys made up and well-"

"Thank you."

The blonde froze, his mouth hanging open from being mid-sentence and with a small chuckle, Seto reached out and pushed it up, a rather large smile on his face.

"Did you just…" Joey couldn't even form the sentence, especially when Seto gave him a quick one armed hug.

"I really wanted to get re-acquainted with Solomon… but I didn't know how." he grinned at Joey and the blonde had the ultimate urge to reach up and kiss the hell out of the CEO. "Thank you Joey."

"I think… we need… to get you checked out for insanity…" Joey muttered, quirking an eyebrow and blanching when Seto just laughed.

"Lets go." he chuckled and surprised Joey even more by reaching out and grabbing his hand, dragging him back out to the hallway.

Yugi, Solomon and Mokuba all turned around to see the approaching two, the worry slipping off their faces but being replaced with a cautious nervousness. Slowly, Seto stepped forward and stood in front of Solomon, his face blank.

"Seto?" Solomon asked, carefully reaching out to touch Seto's shoulder. He didn't have to worry though, as soon as his hands made contact with Seto a huge grin broke out on the CEOs face and he jumped forward, wrapping Solomon up in a hug.

"I missed you Grandpa." he mumbled as he practically bent himself in half to be able to embrace him. The older man laughed before hugging back, gripping the boy tightly.

"I missed you too Seto." he replied. Joey watched with warm eyes as the two hugged. He was surprised that Seto was happy to show that much emotion straight away but it didn't matter. Seto was happy and that was what counts. He was shaken out of his little thinking trance though when Mokuba leapt forward and joined in the hug, dragging Yugi with him. With a small laugh, Solomon and Seto accepted them right away before the older man reached out and grabbed Joeys wrist.

"You're family too Joey." he chuckled before pulling him into the group hug.

_"You better break out,  
><em>_The Bourbon and Rye,  
>Tequila and Gin,<br>I'm telling you why!  
>Santa is invading your town!<br>He sees you when you're naked,  
>And when you're smoking pot,<br>And when you're masturbating,  
>Ev'n when you cop a squat, So!<br>You better break out,  
>The Bourbon and Rye,<br>Tequila and Gin,  
>I'm telling you why!<br>Santa is invading your town!  
>Santa is invading your town!"<em>

Joey groaned into the pillow as the horrible singing invaded his ears. Beside him he could feel Seto cringing and he stifled a chuckle at the CEOs frustration.

Since dinner had finished, they'd thought it'd be nice to go into the lounge for some fun. Fun it had been until Tristan, Bakura and Marik decided they wanted to sing. Everyone had agreed, unaware of how bad they were until the end of the first song where Solomon and his mother had cleared out of the house, claiming to leave them to their fun. Serenity had tried to follow but Mokuba had dragged her back to be tortured with him while everyone else lay incapacitated.

Joey pried the pillow away from his face and peeked over the edge, only to see that Atem had joined in and the four rather drunk looking men where holding onto each other as they bellowed out the next lines, oblivious to Mai, Tea and Malik that were creeping up behind them, heavy objects in their hands.

He felt a shifting of weight and his eyes widened when he saw Seto standing up, his eyes narrowed and fists clenched. Almost instantly everyone stopped, turning their eyes to the tall brunette. They were sure the CEO didn't mind them there but there had been that hint of doubt that he was just going to kick them out at any moment while yelling they were just a bunch of moronic idiots.

"Please." he started, staring at the four singers. "Please shut up... I'll give you goddamn presents if you shut the hell up."

"Seto! Language!" Joey snapped, snacking his thigh and pointing at a giggling Mokuba and Serenity. Seto shot him a look and grabbed his arm.

"You just volunteered to help Santa." he replied, smirking at Joey as he dragged him to his feet and out the door, ignoring the blonde as he laughed at the fact Seto, Seto Kaiba, would be their Santa. After a moment though, the giggling faded out and a small blush spread out over Joey's face as he realised that Seto's hand had moved from his elbow down to his hand, gripping it tightly. Sure over the past month after Seto finally broke down and told him about his past , they'd been more than a little friendly with each other, occasionally touching hands as a source of comfort but Joey felt an even larger rush of warmth fly through his body as Seto actually held his hand.

"Ah Joey?"

The blonde was shaken out of his thoughts as the man of them waved a hand in front of his face, an eyebrow raised elegantly. With a jump, Joey blushed even redder and tore his gaze away from the ice blue eyes, staring at the ground. A chuckle echoed through the room and Joey spotted Seto giving him a rare smile that he saved for only him and Mokuba, causing his head to shoot up as he grinned back, cocking his head to the side as he gazed at Seto.

He'd always looked good with a smile, a genuine smile.

"-and I lost you again."

Shaking his head, Joey blushed shyly at the tsking man before looking over at the pile of presents he had just realised where in the room Seto had dragged him into. Starting forward, he gathered up half of them and gave Seto a lopsided grin.

"Well?"

Seto rolled his eyes and collected up the rest of the presents, before trooping out the door with Joey right behind them. They were silent as they made their way back down the halls and Joey was surprised to see just how far they'd walked, and how unobservant he'd been. Finally the two rounded the last corner and heard the rest of the group speaking in loud tones. With another roll of the eyes Seto stopped in the doorway beside Joey and watched everyone. Almost instantly they saw the two and turned to them, their eyes growing wider as they spotted the stacks of presents piled high in their arms. Rushing forward, Tristan and Duke took them all off the two and dumped them underneath the christmas tree.

"You'll be our Santa! Won't you Seto!" Mokuba cheered, grinning at his brother. The brunette rolled his eyes but nodded his head, making Mokuba squeal with happiness. Just as Joey and Seto were walking forward, Serenity jumped to her feet and screamed "STOP!" at the top of her lungs.

"What!" Joey replied, his hands clutching his ears as he fell back. A huge grin appeared on her face as she bounded forward, a hand pointing up at the ceiling.

"Mistletoe!" she sang, watching in delight as the other two both looked up in surprise before their faces turned bright red, Joeys more than Seto's. Awkwardly returning their eyes back to each other, the two froze, not knowing what to do. With a small sigh, Serenity looked back at Mokuba before beginning a small chant.

"Kiss. Kiss. Kiss. Kiss…" she repeated and soon everyone joined in, watching as the two boys turned even brighter red and tried saying something but no words could come out of their mouths. Finally, Joey buckled under the pressure and turned to Seto, his mouth open to say something.

Only to be stopped by a pair of warm lips crashing down on his.

Joey barely had time to acknowledge that Seto freaking Kaiba was… was _kissing_him when the warmth left him, leaving him wide eyed and a deeply blushing. Before he could react in the way he wanted, grabbing Seto and engaging in the hottest make out in the history of make outs, Seto was already sitting on the ground sorting through the presents while ignoring everyone that had congregated behind him when they'd been waiting for the kiss. Because of there no longer being excitement, the others all moved back to their places and a dazed Joey was lead back to the couch he'd been on before he'd left the room by Serenity. He plopped down comfortably and soon everyone was settled as they waited for Seto to begin.

Shuffling through, Seto picked up a handful of presents before turning to the group.

"Right. Now you all know that I'm, as Joey puts it, socially inept so I didn't really know what to get you all." he shifted uneasily at the uncomfortable stares that were all locked on him. "But I did try."

"A presents a present. It just shows you're being thought of." Yugi called out to him from where he was sitting at Joeys feet. Seto gave him a small smile and nodded.

"Thanks Yug."

And with that he began to hand everyone one present each. As soon as Duke and Tristan had theirs, they began to unwrap them, only for Tea to smack them upside the head.

"Wait for everyone else." she snapped, watching as the two whimpered and covered their heads. Soon everyone had theirs and they turned to Duke and Tristan, obviously waiting for them to go first.

"So Tea hit us for no reason?" Duke asked, ripping open the wrapping paper of a small, CD sized present. Tristan chuckled beside him before opening his much larger present. Silently, they both pulled their presents out under the watchful eye of everyone else.

"Justin Timberlake?" Duke asked as he waved the CD at Seto. The brunette nodded and suddenly everyone else burst out laughing.

"For bringing sexy back!" Joey cackled, referencing to Dukes 'theme song' that they'd decided on a few months ago when Duke had been particularly vain. Duke turned bright red but gave Seto a smile in thanks.

Tristan on the other hand was practically overjoyed as he held the new motorcycle helmet it his arms, his eyes wide with mirth.

"Thank you Kaiba!" he cried, showing everyone the helmet with pride, watching as they rolled their eyes but smiled back.

Next to unwrap their presents were Yugi, Ryou and Malik who had all agreed to do it at once. Tearing open their packages, they all gasped simultaneously and covered their mouths.

"Seto… you didn't…" Yugi whispered as he pulled out the gold ornament, his eyes wide as he glanced at Ryou and Malik who were pulling out objects of the same colour. Seto just waved a hand nonchalantly as the three looked at him with glistening eyes. Joey managed to see what they were all holding before they leapt to their feet and hugged their yamis, grinning madly.

"We… Us… You…" they all cried out and Joey couldn't resist a smile as they thrusted the replicas of the millennium items into their faces. The yamis gave Seto a cautious look but the CEO just shook his head, indicating that they were in fact replicas and no evil, self-obsessed spirit would jump out in the middle of the night and claim their hikaris as their own before wrecking havoc on the world. With small smiles, the yamis hugged their lights back and twirled them around, excited to once again see what had once been theirs.

After that, the unwrapping of presents was quick and soon Seto was giving them their second ones.

"A new bike, considering you totaled your other one." he mumbled as he gave a shocked Tristan a set of keys.

"Might not like it but I thought, considering KaibaCorp is more well known, you might need some funding." he said as he handed a wrapped up envelope containing a contract to a speechless Duke.

"I don't know you all too much but… well I thought you might like to go back." Seto was awkward in saying as he handed Bakura, Ryou, Marik and Malik plane tickets to egypt.

"Thought you might like to live closer to your brother." The CEO mumbled as he gave Serenity a small smile as he handed another set of keys to Joey as Serenity was to busy screaming and hugging him with excitement.

"I had some very skilled people work on this for you Atem." was all he murmured as a dumbstruck Pharaoh gazed down at the picture frame containing him and his old friends from back in his real time, all perfectly drawn with amazing accuracy.

"Your favourite, right?" he asked as he handed Yugi a present containing a simple Dark Magician pendant on a black chain. Yugi grinned and nodded his head, instantly putting it on.

"Have fun." was as much as he could say as he handed Mai a shopping voucher, watching in slight amusement as she looked at how much it was and blanching, before promptly falling backwards and fainting.

"And… well hopefully you're as good as Joey says you are." Seto said as he gave Tea a small smile and handed her an envelope much like Dukes, watching as she pulled it out and screamed wildly, throwing herself at him as she burst out crying, holding the dancing contract tightly in her hand.

Finally only Mokuba and Joey were left. The two brothers exchanged a rare smile they only saved for each other, knowing that Mokuba had already gotten his present and it was upstairs waiting desperately for Mokuba to give it a test run so that left only the blonde puppy.

Stepping forward, Seto gripped the small package tightly in his hand. He was nervous as hell as he sat down beside the blonde who was looking at him with wide, honey brown eyes. The brunette was unobservant of the rest of the group moving closer as he sat sideways, the armrest pressing against the small of his back as he comfortably crossed one leg and allowed the other to touch the ground. Joey frowned but copied him, turning sideways and sitting cross legged.

"Here." was all Seto whispered as he pressed the small present into the palm of Joeys hand. The blonde gave him a small smile before beginning to unwrap it, tearing off the wrapping like a crazed kid. Finally he tipped out the contents and cocked his head to the side as a solid metal duel monsters card fell in his hand. He turned it over, rolling it between his hands and threaded the black cord through his fingers that was attached to the top through a small loop. Finding what looked to be a catch, Joey opened what he realised was a locket.

Only for him to gasp and look up at Seto with shining eyes.

"Seto…" he whispered before throwing himself at the brunette much like Tea had in a tight embrace. After a moment when Seto shocked everyone by gently hugging back, Joey pulled back and looked at the photo fitted snuggly in the locket.

It was of Seto and Mokuba, the younger of the two getting a piggyback ride from the older one as huge grins split their faces. Joey smiled fondly when he realised it was a photo he'd taken himself on one of their afternoons out. They'd been on their way to get ice cream and Mokuba had requested a ride. It'd been a pleasant surprise for Joey when Seto had agreed.

He was knocked out of his thoughts as suddenly Mokuba appeared out of nowhere and squished in between them, a grin rivaling the one in the photo on his face.

"We have new ones two!" he cried, reaching up and sticking his hand down his brothers shirt to grip the necklace hanging there, ignoring everyone as they burst out laughing at the look on Seto's face. He pulled it off his brothers neck and handed it too Joey, watching as the blonde flipped open the lock and gazed at the photo, smiling once again.

The photo was one that Seto had taken on the exact same day when they'd reached the ice cream shop. Joey and Mokuba had wasted no time in ordering chocolate ice creams each and gorging themselves on them. They'd managed to get chocolate all over their mouths and faces right before grinning at Seto, who'd unfortunately had the camera at the time.

Quietly, Joey closed the lid on the ice cream covered idiots, proud that he was one of them, and slipped it over Seto's head before cocking his own at Mokuba who happily gave him his. Joey felt tears prick his eyes again as he wasted no time in opening the locket and stared at the photo that he'd expected to be of himself and Seto.

It was beautiful. Taken on the same day but it was one of Seto lying on the ground, arms behind his head and a small smile on his lips as Joey lay curled up beside him, a rather huge grin on his face and one hand pointing up at the sky. Joey smiled affectionately at the photo and touched it with a hand. He'd remembered lying beside Seto as they'd stared at the moving clouds, finding shapes in them as Mokuba ran about in the park. Clearing the younger boy hadn't been too far away, probably up a tree to be able to catch such an amazing birds-eye view shot.

Handing it back, Joey hugged the two once again and whispered a "thank you" in their ears.

"You're family now Joey." Seto suddenly said, ruffling Joeys hair and smiling warmly.

The blonde burst out crying, whether with happiness or gratitude, he didn't know.

XxXxXxXxX

Joey stared around the park, his eyes softer than they would have normally be, his posture straighter, a small smile tugging on his lips as he sat on the fence without a lollipop this time but his legs still rhythmically swinging in tune with a song he hummed.

It'd been a whole year since he'd first been found in the park by Seto, his past dark and his future even darker. It'd been a whole year since he'd finally accepted help from someone. It'd been a whole year since he'd begun to make a new family.

A whole year since he'd fallen in love with Seto Kaiba.

The blonde smiled at the thought and looked over at the swings swaying in the light breeze, remembering the first time he'd actually seen Seto out of character had been when Mokuba has asked Seto to push him on those exact swings. Now that he looked back on it, Joey was surprised he didn't fall in love with the CEO right then and there.

With a sigh, Joey shook his head as if too clear the thoughts. At first he'd tried to deny his feelings, knowing it wasn't right for him to like a man but eventually he gave in. He thought Seto might like him even just a little bit back, especially after the kiss at christmas but he reasoned with himself. Seto needed a heir for the Kaiba Corporation and he would never be one to force that responsibility on Mokuba and if he adopted there could be huge legal debates about it. Along with the fact that Joey was 'family' to them now, and Seto probably saw him as a brother.

Rolling his eyes, the blonde slipped off the fence and began to walk towards a tree he could lean against, his hands plunging into his pockets as he walked.

"Joey!"

Honey brown eyes snapped up to see a familiar blob of black racing towards him, a huge grin on its face and a book clasped in its hands.

"Mokuba?"

"Sit down! I have to show you something!" the boy cried, running right past him and practically flinging himself at the tree, sliding down it and grinning up at Joey. The blonde smiled back before cautiously sitting down beside the ecstatic Mokuba, one eyebrow cocked in interest.

"And that is..?" he asked, flinching when Mokuba suddenly thrusted the book he was holding into his face before dropping it in Joeys lap.

"Seto's journal!"

A million things ran through Joeys mind as he picked it up. Seto's journal? Every deep dark secret of the CEO was in this small leather bound book in the neat, curvy writing Seto preferred. It was thick, fill of years worth of writing starting from when he was a child to the present day. It had everything from full recounts of what Gozaburo had done to him with photos as almost evidence, to what their conversation was about last night over dinner.

He glanced at Mokuba who gave him a small, encouraging smile before turning his eyes back to the Christmas entry he'd flicked on to.

_So, I kissed him. _

_I __don't __know __what __came __over __me. __Then __again, __we __were __standing __underneath __mistletoe __and __Mokuba's __always __hounding __at __me __to __obey __the __traditions._ _But __I __can't __really __use __that __as __an __excuse, __I __never __listen __to __Mokie __if __its __about __something __I __don't __want __to __do, __I __mean __I __am __Seto __Kaiba._

_I should just admit it, I wanted to kiss him because I love the dumb dog._

Joey winced when he saw the dumb dog part but instantly closed the book, not bothering to read the rest of the entry as his face flamed up. Seto… loved him?

"Mokie… he…"

"Isn't it great! Now you guys can get together and we can really be a big, happy family! Oh! Serenity will be so excited!" Mokuba chattered, his eyes wide with a rather terrifying excitement. Joey was dead silent as he opened the book again and gazed at the section he'd read.

_I kissed him._

_I wanted to kiss him._

_I love the dumb dog._

Even though it was an insult, Joey knew that Seto had meant it in an affectionate way and a warmth filled his heart. He flashed Mokuba a grin, feeling like he was on cloud nine.

"Oh! And watch out for Seto!" Mokuba chuckled, his eyes dancing with glee as Joey snapped back to reality, only just catching the last part of Mokuba apparent speech.

"Wait… Wait what!" Joey cried out in return as the black haired boy laughed before turning around and sprinting away, leaving the blonde on the ground, his mouth and eyes wide. Watch out for Seto? Joey felt his heart leap into his throat at those words. Seto was coming now? Most likely furious with Mokuba for taking his journal but he was coming? _Now_? What should he do? Should he declare his love for the CEO? Should he pretend nothing happened? A light blush began to cover his nose as he thought of each possibility.

But soon Joey heard pounding footsteps and he looked up in time to see a familiar brunette slow to a walk as approached him.

"Seen Mokuba?" Seto asked, cocking his head to the side as he same to a stop in front of Joey. With a still present blush deepening, Joey shook his head but picked up the book and handed it to him.

"I'm assuming you want this?" he whispered, his voice barely able to be heard. Seto frowned before looking down at the book and blanching. Reaching out, he took it from Joey with his long fingers and ran them over the cover, his eyes growing cold as he looked down at boy.

The blonde couldn't even look up at the CEO, choosing instead to just stare at the ground, finding it easier to start counting the amount of grass blades in the park. He could easily tell that he was angry, and that might of been an understatement. Very quickly, every possible idea of finding someway to get Seto to come out to him disappeared, leaving Joey to just mull over the fact that the other boy actually loved him. It wasn't surprising when the shadow of Seto standing over him disappeared but it was when he felt a warm body sink down against the tree.

"I'm guessing you read some." he heard the quiet statement. Glancing up, he saw Seto watching him with a small, sad smile perched on his lips, his hands resting on his knees that were pulled up to his chest. Joey couldn't manage much except a brisk nod, his head still exploding at the revelation that Seto Kaiba, _the__Seto__Kaiba_, loved him.

"What part?"

"Christmas." Joey managed to choke out, trying to stay calm. Seto's eyes widened and he paled again, his mouth working as it attempted to find something to say. A moment later, the brunette pulled his gaze away and stared at his hands.

There was a long period of silence, non of them knowing what to say to the other. From behind the tree in front if them, Mokuba sighed and was about to intervene when Seto spoke up.

"I fully understand if you wish to pack your bags and leave." the young CEO said, his voice being perfectly calm and controlled from a normal perspective, but Joey and Mokuba could hear the hurt laced in every word. "I shall give you any amount of money to compensate for my immaturity and to get you settled down wherever it is you wish."

Joey was gobsmacked, his eyes practically falling out of his head as he watched Seto get to his feet slowly. The brunette managed to force another sad smile before shoving his hands in his pockets and walking away.

It was only a few moments later that Joey realised what was happening and he glanced desperately over at Mokuba. The young teen was glaring at him, frantically waving towards his brother and seemed to be almost hissing under his breath.

With a quick nod of his head, Joey was off the ground and sprinting towards the CEO, his heart pounding in his chest as those words he'd read from the journal replayed over and over again in his head

_I kissed him._

_I wanted to kiss him._

_I love the dumb dog._

_'Dammit __Seto' _he thought as he pushed himself harder, feet pounding harshly against the pavement when he saw that Seto was already at the other side of the park, reaching out to unlock the car he'd driven here.

"Oi! You obnoxious prick!" Joey cried as he took a flying leap and slammed into the brunette, causing them to crash into the side of the car then to the ground, a small gasp of surprise and pain falling from Seto's lips as he broke Joeys fall.

"J-Joey?" was all he was given time to say before said boy yanked him to his feet and began dragging him away.

"Shut up and listen to me Moneybags." Joey snapped, seeing Seto's eyebrows quirk at the old nickname before he roughly shoved the CEO to the ground where, ironically enough, the two had first talked a year ago.

"How dare you…" the furious blonde started, his eyes narrowed with anger. "How dare you not even allow me to even say anything? How dare you attempt to make my decisions for me! You don't know how I feel Seto! You don't know jackshit so how could you even begin to think that you had the right to make my decisions for me?" Joey was surprised that he sounded slightly intellectual for once and by the look on Seto's face, he assumed he did too.

"Because you know what Moneybags, I fucking love you. I've loved you for god knows how long!"

"You… you…" Seto started by Joey raised a hand and cut him off, his eyes blazing with more than just anger now.

"You _made _me love you. You caused me to just… to just…" Joey threw up his hands in frustration before collapsing on the ground beside the CEO, his back coming into contact with the grass and his hands finding his face.

"Joey?"

"Everyday for a whole year I fallen even more in love with you. Every little thing you've done has made my heart swell up." Joey chuckled darkly to himself. "I sound like some corny ass fangirl but I don't care. It just felt so… so _right _to love you."

It remained quiet for a long moment as Joey began to calm down, knowing this conversation wouldn't last long if he continued to act like a child and Seto sat waiting, realising that Joey clearly had something to say and knowing it wasn't worth interrupting him.

"I think… I think I know why." the blonde mumbled, his eyes drifting to look up at Seto. "Why it was so easy. Do you remember two years ago when we took psychology?"

Seto gave a slight nod.

"Well, I recall from one of the lessons Mr Hanker saying that there was a thin line between love and hate before going into some random rambling that I feel asleep through." Joey continued, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly as Seto rolled his eyes. Sitting back up, Joey touched Seto's shoulder gently to get his attention before locking eyes, refusing to break the contact. "But it had me thinking, maybe when I thought I hated you, I really didn't. Maybe I was just misjudging which side of the line I was on. Maybe I was just balancing somewhere in the middle. I don't really know but maybe, just maybe I loved you from the very start and it took all this time to realize that!"

Seto was quiet as he watched the blonde with a calm, emotionless face. But Joey knew that inside Seto was a mess of emotional turmoil.

"Joey-"

"Hold on. I still haven't finished." he chuckled, interrupting the CEO with a smug grin. Seto rolled his eyes once again before nodding, waiting for him to continue. Taking a deep breath, the blonde did just that.

"From the first time I meet you, back when you had green hair and wore white." Joey gave a small smile and ran his fingers through the brown locks. "Stupid Gozaburo and his need for Noah. Thank god that brown hair mixed with green doesn't come out right!" he chuckled, watching as Seto lips twitched at the corners. "Anyway, when I first met you, I thought I had some strong emotion towards you. In fact, I know I did. But after the long time of insults and punch ups we had, I was convinced it was hate. And its not like we did anything to correct it. Every time we seemed to see each other, it was in with the insults and out with all respect. Even the teachers began to hate us, what with having to constantly pull us apart and break up our fights. But then, in the Duelist Kingdom, whenever you talked to me it was with hate filled words and I know I was no better, but seeing how desperate you were to save Mokuba, how you basically gave up your life in an attempt to do so made me think..." he swallowed the lump in his throat. "God… This is so cliche."

Seto chuckled beside him and gave him a small smile, convincing Joey to continue.

"I thought that maybe I was wrong. I mean, I hated you because you were a cold, cruel heartless bastard. But seeing you with Mokuba… Especially when you hugged him." he smiled fondly at the memory of the black haired boy sprinting as fast as possible towards Seto and attempting to crush his waist. "You just weren't the Seto I knew. I went home and thought it over thinking that maybe you'd be different but when I turned up at school, we went back to the way we'd been before. I just ended up thinking it was all a fluke.

"But when you were having your problems with the big five and got..." Joey stifled a laugh. "Got kidnapped and we had to help out, I started off reluctant but seeing Mokuba so worried, I knew I had to help. Hell, why would a kid get so worked up over an arrogant prick? So I guessed there was a good side to you. And anyway, that outfit was great!"

Seto blushed at the memory of Joey strutting around in that tight caveman outfit and the blonde grinned, punching Seto's shoulder gently.

"And you and Mokuba… even I could feel the love from you two and I felt exactly how I had at the end of Duelist kingdom. Maybe you weren't such a bad guy after all? Maybe we could be friends? Then of course you open your big mouth again and say you'd never consider me a teammate. Prick.

"And then Battle City." Joey scoffed, shaking his head as Seto raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were just doing the usual Kaiba thing. Flash around as much money as possible in a stupid tournament. Although I admit, I thought it was pretty cool to hang out of a helicopter, but I did also hope you'd raise your hand just a little higher so the blade could lop of your finger or you'd 'accidentally' fall. And that coat! Gravity defying much?" he exclaimed, glancing at Seto who was smirking. "I much prefer this one. Duelist Kingdom one." Joey mumbled as he ran a hand over the fine blue material gathered on Seto's thigh, not catching the small blush that appeared on the brunettes nose.

Shaking his head, Joey tore his gaze away. "Anyway! Off topic!"

"There's a topic?" Seto asked disbelievingly. "I thought this was just a 'bash the hell out of Seto throughout every adventure we've been through together' time."

Joey smacked him lightly over the head before smiling. "Just shut up and listen! Obviously I was pissed at you, but I was feeling slightly generous considering I was ranked a four star in the system-"

"I had you as one star. You weren't invited"

"I know asshole!" Joey snaked, smacking the brunette over the head. "The rare hunters put it up to four for my red eyes. But you know I'm not a stupid third rate duelist! I deserve those four stars!"

Joey missed the smug smile on Seto's face as he continued to rant.

"I mean! To get to those quarter finals I kicked some major ass! I refused to fight all the amateurs! I went straight for the good guys like Mako and… and those weird twin guys who have… I don't know what they technically are… And then you..." Joey turned an accusing finger onto the CEO. "You refused to duel me you stuck up jerk!"

"Hey! I had to find those god cards! And think about it, if I hadn't gone to see Yugi then how would he have found you when you were possessed?"

"Maybe if you'd dueled me I wouldn't have been possessed in the first place!"

"And that logic comes from where?"

"Oh screw you Moneybags!"

They fell into a deep silence, Joeys original idea of telling Seto exactly how he fell in love with him gone out the window as anger took over. Nearby, Mokuba groaned from where he was hiding and resisted the urge to run and smack them around the head. Stupid idiots. Letting their pride get to their heads. Instead of doing the much desired, Mokuba raised a hand and began waving frantically, quickly gaining Joeys attention. Within seconds of Mokuba throwing retarded sign language movements mixed with some rude, well known ones, Joey turned back to Seto and sighed.

"Sorry."

Seto's head popped up and he stared at Joey cautiously before smirking.

"You should be mutt."

Joey laughed at the old nickname and felt a hand ruffling his hair, causing him to whine and swipe away Seto's hand.

"Stop it Moneybags!" he laughed. Seto chuckled before pulling his hand away and reclining back on the grass.

"So? Are you going to continue insulting me then?"

"As you wish" Joey replied dramatically, faking a bow with a huge grin before lying down beside the brunette. "As I was saying. After you declined my offer of beating your ass in-" Seto scoffed. "-Marik possessed me and... During that battle I can honestly say that it want just Yugi and the others that pulled me back." Joey gave Seto a shy smile before finishing. "It was you too. I remember thinking, who's that ignorant bastard yelling at me? And... Well you know what happened after that. I came back, Serenity saved me but when you were walking away... When you were walking away from me Seto I realised that you mattered to me. That's why even just looking at you had helped bring me back.

"When we got on that stupid blimp and you insulted me, again, I couldn't help but feel like my abilities were shit. I mean, I'd finally figured out that you mattered to me and hell, I value the opinion of anyone that matters."

Seto felt a small sense of guilt take over him but was stopped at the smile that took over Joeys face.

"Yugi told me that when I was facing Odion you actually looked worried for me." the blonde flicked Seto a wink before stretching out and sitting up. It'd felt like hours he'd been talking but in reality it'd only be roughly twenty minutes.

"I'd better hurry up really. I lost the point of this conversation ages ago. What I'm trying to say is that over the course of all our adventures, you seemed to be a different person. You cared so much for Mokuba especially when Noah and Gozaburo tried taking him from you. I don't think I've ever seen you so hurt. You were different. I could describe how I felt after everyone of those adventures but that'd take to long. I guess the main feeling though was... Was..."

"Was?" Seto pressed. Joey looked at him sideways as the brunette also sat up.

"Confusion. I was confused. I was supposed to hate you and there you were being all... All non typical Seto!" he cried the last part, frustration evident on his tone. There was a heavy silence again and Joey shivered as a gust of wind found the gaps in his shirt and brushed against his skin. He heard a rustle beside him and expected to feel Seto drape his coat over his shoulders, knowing the CEO well enough to know he'd do that. He wasn't expecting to feel a slim arm wrap around his waist and pull him into a mass of warm. Joey looked up just in time to see Seto drape his coat over both of their shoulders and flash him a smile before turning to look down at his other hand, lying limply in his lap. Joey could but grin as he reached across both his and Seto's bodies to clasp the lonesome hand before dropping his head on Seto's shoulder.

"Continue?"

"If you wish." was Seto's quiet response.

Joey swallowed the lump in his throat before continuing. "I was so confused Seto. And then you came along again and met me right here in this very spot. I was shocked at first, but soon I was just... Well shocked even more when you started talking to me, treating me like an equal." Joey snuggled even more into Seto's side, feeling a sense of warmth settle over him. "Then you stopped insulting me, began feeding me, took care of me when... When that night happened. Even though you were angry with me at the time, you still took me in-"

"Do you think I'm that much of a heartless bastard?" Seto cut in, his voice light but his eyes practically screaming seriousness.

Reaching up, Joey brushed the back of his hand against Seto's cheek, refusing to let go of the hand it was also holding.

"I was doubting it again by this point." he whispered, his voice taking on a soft but still clear tone. "Then finally after a while, we were friends. Almost best friends."

Joey gave Seto a shy grin. "Everything began to add up. The gentleness you'd show me, those night time visits when I was having nightmares. And... And when you opened up to me... Everything came crashing down. I realised I had true feelings, real feelings for you. At first I tried fighting them, resisting them. I didn't... I couldn't understand why I... I Joey Wheeler, would love a man. I mean, I'm Joey Wheeler! Expert female perv! And here I was, I love with a man. Not to mention that I knew that the man I was in love with was… well would be perfectly straight! He'd have to be! I mean, you had to provide a heir to the company and you're too bloody noble to give that duty to your brother! And I'm sure men can't get other men pregnant! So I tried destroying these feelings but I gave up… I just gave up after a while and began to accept them.

"And that kiss at Christmas just sealed the deal." he sighed with a sweet smile, watching as Seto's eyes lit up with the memory, knowing his were exactly the same.

The blonde was about to finish when suddenly Seto leaned down and brushed his lips against Joeys, smiling when he gave a small yelp out of surprise.

"S-Seto?" he stuttered, not expecting the brunette to be so forward.

"Ditto." he replied before crushing his lips against Joeys, demanding a response which was eagerly given. Seto released Joeys hand and reached up to cup his cheek, wanting to deepen the kiss but Joey reluctantly pulled away.

"I haven't finished yet..." he whined, causing Seto to roll his eyes.

"What's there to finish? You love each other! Hurry up and smooch some more!"

Joey and Seto froze before turning their head towards the source of the new voice, their eyes widening when they saw not just Mokuba, but the whole gang watching them with bright eyes.

"Mokuba! What the hell!" Joey cried, jumping to his feet and shedding Seto's coat. With a sigh, the brunette got up as well and sent a raised eyebrow towards his younger brother.

"Hey! They wanted to hear the whole confession as well!" Mokuba defended, pouting slightly and earning a small giggle from Serenity who was standing beside him.

"Which, might I had, we haven't heard yet!" Yugi cried, glaring not so menacingly with his huge panda eyes at the two causing them to flinch. Yugi? Glaring? It was a rarity.

"Only Joey blabbing on about nonsense!" Tristan finished, earning a playful smack from Duke. Soon, everyone turned their attention back to stare uncomfortably at Seto and Joey who frowned.

"You expect us to... In front of you?" Joey asked disbelievingly, receiving nods and grins in reply. "You can't-"

He was interrupted suddenly by Seto grabbing him by the waist, pulling him against his body, cupping one cheek and smashing their lips together in a passionate, heated kiss. It took him off guard for a moment before he responded whole heartedly with as much gusto as he could that didn't make them topple over.

It was only seconds later that Seto pulled away and placed his forehead against Joeys, his breath fanning the blondes face.

"I love you Joey."

At those words, Joey felt his heart swell up and basically explode as tears prick his eyes. So many thoughts and emotions flew through him as he looked at the calm but slightly nervous Seto, his honey brown eyes capturing ice blue ones. He gave the CEO a huge grin before replying.

"I love you too Seto."

They heard the cries of delight from their friends as Seto crushed Joey to him in a hug and twirled him around, a huge grin on his face. As soon as he placed Joey back on the ground though, he pressed a tender kiss to the blondes forehead.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to hear that."

"Bit corny for you isn't it Seto?"

"I can be cornier Mutt."

"Shut up and kiss me Moneybags!"

* * *

><p><strong>So there we have it! My extremely long first Puppyshipping story! 26,206 words! I'm sorry if the OOCness was too much or if there were to many typos. I tried correcting them but after having to go through 60 pages on word, I think my eyes practically gave out after the 20th page and it was WOOOOO! from there...<strong>

**Anyway! Thank you for reading my story! Please drop a review!**

**Oh and one last thing, there is a reason why in the last scene not everything was explained or addressed. I decided that during that scene, Joeys only real focus was to blurt out his feeling the long and hard way so I thought that not everything would be said. Plus what else can they do when theyr'e a couple except have lots of sexy time and help each other out with getting through their pasts even more. You may disagree and hate me for not addressing everything but that is how it goes.**

**Anyhoo! Thank you again! *hands out cookies***


End file.
